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This is history’: Inaugural crowd celebrates Obama

This is how Americans celebrate their president: Braving ear-freezing cold and long security lines, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the nation’s Capitol to send off Barack Obama into his second term. Lugging blankets and food, buying five-dollar hand warmers on the street, they got up before dawn to get prime position on the National Mall. When Obama finally stepped out on the podium to swear his oath of office, they lapsed into a reverential hush – then roared approval.

The 21-gun salute reverberated deeply through the crowd, which waved a carpet of tiny American flags. Obama’s message of unity resonated with the largely African American crowd as the first black president pointed to decades of progress on civil rights. Talk of equality for gays and women brought “yesses” from the many young people in the crowd.

“It made me reflect on my mom and dad and the struggles they had to get where we are,” said Beulah Oldham, 53, an African American woman from Tennessee. Obama argued for the United States to rise above partisanship, even as he faces continued divided government in his second term. But as is traditional, inauguration day saw a pause in the battle amid the party atmosphere. Performances by Beyonce and a balding James Taylor lent a festive note. Iris Wertheiner, 22, a student from nearby Potomac, Maryland, indicated that on election day, she had preferred Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

“I still feel confident in the next four years … I still value a lot of things Obama is for,” she told dpa. Reinforcing the bipartisan nature of the celebration, Libby Wallace, a retired political reporter who drove with her daughter from South Carolina to witness the inauguration, said: “It’s a day I think everybody celebrates in the country whether you are Republican or Democrat.”

More than 250,000 ticketed onlookers near the podium and another estimated 800,000 jammed the Mall to witness Obama’s public swearing in, a day after his official oath-taking at the White House to meet the January 20 constitutional deadline. Although the crowds were smaller than 2009, when about 1.8 million people flocked to the largest event ever on the nation’s Mall, many people said Obama’s second inauguration was equally important.

“This is history, so I really felt I needed to be here,” Dian Knight, a singer in her late 40s from Atlanta, Georgia, told dpa. She dressed up for the event, with perfect make-up and a warm fur coat decorated with American flags and Obama buttons. Ryan Dillo, 28, who works for a gay rights advocacy group in Washington, praised Obama for becoming the first president to endorse gay marriage, and hoped for more action in the next four years – like the nomination of “LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) cabinet members and ambassadors.”

Many supporters expected Obama to get tougher in his second term, when he is unbound in his constitutionally limited final term from the need to seek re-election. “I think the president is going to turn up the heat this time. He doesn’t have any restrictions,” Mary Burrow, 49, from Richmond, Virginia, said.

Monday’s public inauguration coincides with the national holiday honouring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and Obama used two Bibles to signify the day’s historic meaning: a burgundy velvet-covered Bible used by president Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861, as he faced the Civil War that would end slavery; and the black-bound Bible carried by King. The large turnout of blacks reflected the pride that many African-Americans still feel in Obama despite criticism that he has not done enough for racial progress.

Community college professor Wanda Henderson, 58, a black woman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said she was happy with Obama’s accomplishments on civil rights, but saw him in a broader light. “I consider myself American, and what he does, he does for the country,” she said.

Obama, 51, a Democrat and the son of a Kansas-born white mother and Kenyan father, faces strong resistance from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on key issues including taxes and spending. In his speech, Obama challenged the opposition to cooperate and signalled his intention to push through stronger gun controls and immigration reform. Even before his speech, Obama was optimistic about meeting his goals: “I’m honoured and grateful that we have a chance to finish what we started. Our work begins today.”

Anne K Walters and Emoke Bebiak, "This is history’: Inaugural crowd celebrates Obama," Business recorder. 2013-01-23.
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