Closing Prayer Gets Some Laughs

The Reverend Joseph Lowery utters the most memorable lines at the Obama inauguration not spoken by President Obama himself.

President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address

President Barack Obama took the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States and delivered an inaugural address focusing on the themes of sacrifice and renewal on January 20, 2009.

Kenyan Boys Choir Heads to DC for Inauguration

Twenty four of Kenya's best choir boys left the capital Nairobi on Saturday on a trip to Washington, D.C. where they will perform traditional Kenyan songs for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Spelman Students: All-Nighter to Inauguration

The AP's Lee Powell talks to students from Spelman College in Atlanta as they prepare for an all-night bus ride to the inauguration.

Bound for Glory: Following in Lincoln’s tracks, Barack Obama rides into history.

By: Terence Samuel

At 11:38 a.m. Saturday, a 10-car train carrying Barack Obama pulled out of 30th Street Station Philadelphia, taking the next American president on the symbolic final leg of his historic journey to the White House. The trip, meant to echo one that Abraham Lincoln took to Washington after his election 148 years ago, was yet another reminder that Obama, who has come to personify the American future, is deeply conversant with its complicated past.

“We are here to mark the beginning of our journey to Washington,” Obama told a small group of about 200 supporters at a relatively intimate event inside the grand art-deco station before setting off. “This is fitting because it was here, in this city, that our American journey began. It was here that a group of farmers and lawyers, merchants and soldiers, gathered to declare their independence and lay claim to a destiny that they were being denied.”

Resonating throughout that observation is the understanding that his election represents a step toward resolution for claims African Americans have had on the American conscience, for other destinies denied and promises unmet because of prejudice.

Bound for Glory....

Increased Air Patrols, Cameras to Match Big Crowd

By: Eileen Sullivan


WASHINGTON - Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security - thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols - to safeguard President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in.

People attending the ceremony and parade on Jan. 20 can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine - magnetometers like those used at airports - to countersnipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away. Plus undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols.

The Secret Service - the agency coordinating the security - also has assigned trained officials to identify and prevent cyber security risks. And, as it does at every inauguration, the service has mapped out escape routes for the 44th president.

In addition Washington's 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command center.

"When you have an event like the inauguration, the more eyes we have in and around the city the better off we are," District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier said. Streets will be closed within seven-to-eight blocks on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue, and two-to-three blocks around each inaugural ball site, she said.

Increased Air Patrols, Cameras to Match Big Crowd....