Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration

Reviewing Presidential Inaugural History

Inaugurals are a mixture of pomp, festival and gravity, the American equivalent of a coronation. Their rituals are laden with symbols of national purpose, continuity and unity. For 220 years, they have marked the peaceful transfer of power, a feat few other countries have achieved.

Obama Presidential Inauguration Schedule & Events

Over the years, the inauguration has become highly formalized, with the day's scheduled events taking on almost ritualistic significance. A look at events from past inaugurals and how & when certain inaugural events became part of Inauguration Day.

Obama Inauguration Facts, Trivia and Information for Kids

Parade, luncheon, ball. Being inaugurated sounds like fun. But what exactly is an inauguration? What happens? Here are answers to your most pressing questions. Plus Inauguration Trivia, Presidential Pets and the Obama Girls

Special Inaugural Crossword Puzzle

Can you solve this special inaugural crossword with your mom, dad or your favorite grown-up? Yes, you can! Kids solve the across clues while adults tackle the down ones.

Memorable Lines from Past Presidential Inaugurals

Since George Washington's first inaugural address, many memorable words have been spoken and are among the most enduring and frequently quoted.

America Receives a Leading Man for the Dramas Ahead

When President Obama takes his hand off the Bible and walks to the Capitol lectern, he carries real power in his pocket, maybe more than any president since FDR, and some of it he has earned and some is a gift.

Don't Take that Oath, Barack

Personally, I'm hoping for a new piece of presidential trivia come Inauguration Day. I'm hoping Barack Obama becomes the first person elected president to refuse to take the Oath of Office. In other words, I hope he turns down the job. Don't get me wrong I like and admire Obama. But that said, and for all Obama's clearly evident wisdom and sound judgment, I just don't know if president of the United States is the ideal job for him.

Illustration by Dana Summers

Riding on the Wings of Change

Our new president is offering us more than the promise of change. With his historic election, he offered us the optimistic idea that we can do what we must do. In my experience studying the human condition, we only change when there is no alternative. And now, there is no alternative. Our national challenges trickle down into our households. We have family members at war, our jobs aren't secure, our retirement savings seem to be disappearing and our material lifestyle is under assault.

America in Shock

As we head into 2009, America is in shock. It is not because of the unusual sight of the first black president taking up residence in the White House. Barack Obama's profile, after all, is familiar to the diverse population of today's ethnically and racially hybrid America. America is in shock because our economic and financial landscape is suddenly unrecognizable.

Barack Obama Inherits 'The United States of Recession'

Great Expectations

With Barack Obama, it is the reverse. Perhaps because of his eloquence, lithe body, handsome face and beautiful family (and because he is not George W. Bush), expectations are so high that they are beyond the reach of any mortal. Perhaps that is why Obama has been disparagingly referred to as "the messiah" and "the one."

Awaiting the Transformational Presidency

President-elect Barack Obama is obsessed with Lincoln, who changed the country both by changing government policy and by using the bully pulpit to help us change ourselves.

Europeans Love 'Alabama'

With a new political era dawning in America, the world is paying attention. I remember the first time my Italian friends expressed a curiosity and enthusiasm about some black politician named "Alabama." Now everyone knows Obama's name, and we have a president whom people around the world want to look up to.

Is This the End of Black

Those who claim we live in a post-racial America are guilty of no sin greater than wishful thinking. But that doesn't make them any less incorrect. Not simply because people are still being pulled over for driving black but, more fundamentally, because Obama's victory does not mean what some of us think it does. I don't mean to suggest it does not embody breathtaking progress it does.

A New Way of Being on this Planet

Something has to change about how we conduct our business and live our lives . . . no, that's putting it too mildly. A spiritual awakening has to occur, the shock and awe of awareness as we look unblinking at the state of the world as it really is.

As the Decider, The True Barack Obama will Become Clear

Over the interminably long campaign, Obama's positions "evolved" to suit his political needs. This is hardly extraordinary. Pretty much every successful presidential candidate embarks on a similar ideological migration

Obama Isn't the Only One Being Inaugurated on January 20th

Barack Obama is not the only one being inaugurated on January 20. And that's not just because Obama has promised to make a call to service "a central cause" of his presidency.

Obama's New Home was Slow to Integrate

Not too long ago, Barack Obama would have found when he moved his family to Washington that his daughters couldn't attend the same schools white children could. They couldn't try on clothes or shoes at most local department stores, or eat at downtown lunch counters. Or see a play at the National Theatre or a movie just a block or two from the White House.

Obama's visage appeared on the svelte figures of French models during the annual Fashion Week in Paris

 

 

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