Barack Obama the President of United States

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, sworn in on January 20 as the 44th president of the United States, urged his fellow Americans to cast aside their political and social divisions and instead face the challenges of economic chaos, two difficult wars, and a growing environmental crisis with what he called a “unity of purpose.”

The former state and national legislator was sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, with a crowd estimated at up to 2 million people gathered on the National Mall and an estimated 1 billion others watching on television around the globe.

Barack Obama’s left hand rests on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

Making history as the first African-American to become president, Obama took the oath of office with his hand on a Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln, also a former U.S. lawmaker from Illinois, at his first inauguration in 1861.

The excitement surrounding Obama’s inauguration reached a fever pitch in the nation’s capital, as hundreds of thousands came to participate in the celebrations. Even the weather cooperated. Though it was cold, the sun shone brightly on a day that was supposed to have been cloudy.�
By Heather Maher, Andrew F. Tully
http://www.rferl.org