President Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America as his wife, Michelle Obama, and daughters, Malia and Sasha, look on.
Placing his hand on the Bible once used by Abraham Lincoln, Obama took the Oath of Office at 12:05 p.m. on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Immediately following, he delivered his Inaugural Address to a sea of flag-waving Americans stretching down the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial and beyond.
( Photos: Getty Images )
truely amazing!
- proud to be a black american!
Just wow…what a world we live in
No more Bush, thank god!!!
MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK…I AM SO HAPPY AND EXCITED THANK YOU JESUS, YOU GUYS THIS IS IT!!!
GREAT LOOK OBAMA
SO HELP ME GOD
History was being made! Loved the speech! and found it funny that he messed up the oath a lil. well he is also only human afterall!
I am still in SHOCKKK!!!!!!!!!! I pray that all goes well. Congrats Obama!!!!!!
TRUlY PROUD!!
hOPE fOR THE BESt.
I LIVE IN JAMAICA I AND I HAD TO WATCH EVERYTHING! WAS EVEN CRYING! IM SO PROUD! WELCOME MR. PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!
Wow….can u believe it hasn’t hit me like I thought it would until that moment??
Words can’t express how proud I am.! His speech was beautiful. His family is beautily. All of this is just amazing
I am TRULY excited and proud. God Bless America. We have come a loooong way.
Hello Mr. President.
Great job, now let’s get to work
Words cannot express how I feel! Congrats to President Barack H. Obama!
Awesome. Obama made history. The family is beautiful. Black people time to get off our collective asses and support Obama, not just sit back and expect him to do all the work.
Adios Bush! Put on your chaps, sharpen your spurs, and cinch the hat cause it’s a looooong ride back to Texas on the back of a bucking horse, lol.
A new America begins today, we must take in this moment and be the best we can be. How great it will be to see a black family in the White House !!!
WOOT WOOT!!!
EXCELLENT SPEECH-MICHELLE LOOKED AMAZING-I HEART HER DRESS-THE GIRLS LOOKED LOVELY. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
AND HOW CLASSY ARE THE OBAMA’S……
THEY WERE THE ONLY INCOMING ADMINISTRATION TO SEE THE FORMER PRES AND HIS WIFE TO THEIR FLIGHT HOME.
NOW THAT’S CLASS!!!!!
OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA YES WE CAN YES WE CAN HELL YES WE DID!!!
Wow! God is Great! All the time! A black man as the US president. Just beautiful. I couldn’t accept it until he was actually sworn in…. Just Beautiful.
MLK’s dream has come true. We’ve reached the mountain top!!!!
Collective failure…I must agree to that Obama…his speech was great!
I feel like Cuba Gooding Jr. the night he won the Oscar “I Love Everbody” and to quote his character (Rod Tidwell) from Jerry MaGuire “I love black people”. America this is truly a defining moment.
God is good all time!! This is a great day in history as well as Black History!!! This is what our people have fought for so many years. I can truly say I am proud to be an American and I know that all things are possible through God. We have a beautiful family in the white house and I wish them well. God be with them!
What a beauttiful day!!!! Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America!!!
I black Canadian and I am soooooooooooo happy right now! I feel like I’m on cloud nine!
One more thing. Let’s thank the American people for VOTING!!! This would NEVER have been acheived without EVERYONE!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
@4 , actually it was the chief justice who messed up the oath at the beginning and the end because they both stumbled. Even the nbc news anchor noticed and said he must have forgot his notes.
so greatful that i was able to witness such a historic event. god bless america, the newly president and his family. The speech was amazing… Let us all work together to bring about change in america, but more importantly, bring about positive change everywhere in the world…. Peace… god bless.
OMG I am soooooooooooooooo excited. And I wish all the best to the Obama family. May Allah guard you and your family to a great directions and may he keep you away from all the bad things and may he watch over you and guard you to do ur job the right way with no harm among you or your loving family. Congratulation. Sasha n Malia omg they’r such beautiful little girls. Michelle, she is just sooo smart and beautiful.
@Shaiy, FYI…..President Obama did not mess up during his swearing in. It was Chief Justice John Roberts that stumbled….he said…”I will execute faithfully”….in which he should have said…”that I will faithfully execute the office of president to the United States.” President Obama knew he (Chief Roberts) made a mistake so he paused to state the correct phrase.
#4 and #23: That’s exactly what happened! Justice Roberts tried to wing it and ended up saying the wrong thing, which, in turn, threw President Obama for a loop. So he was like, “Let me just let him get it together and we’ll try this again.”
People are going to be saying that Pres. Obama messed up the oath, but it was Justice Roberts who did that.
But, on another note my cheeks hurt I could not stop smiling watching everything. That benediction had me shouting amen in my home.
Sasha’s so cute! She was so excited.
My president is black my car is baby blue. YEAAAAAA im so proud of r country right now. I cried this morning because of this man. He going to be the best president period. Do the damn thing obama. His girls r so beautiful.
IT IS OFFICIALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise Jesus!!!! Pastor Rick Warren tore it up, and so did Rev. Lowry!!!!!
President Obama’s speech was the best yet!
I am so proud!
Let’s get to work, so he can down in history as one of the best.
may GOD be with our first black president of these united states BARACK H. OBAMA II and be w/ our VICE PRESIDENT who i will nickname JOE [ YOU THINK I'AM PLAYING ] BIDEN . these two men ain’t no joke AND FOR THOSE who think that DR.KINGS dream is fullfilled you are being mislead in your own thinking and being mislead in your own mind. we dreamers we come and we go. and the ones who have gone on. they pass the dream on . i WILL NEVER STOP dreaming UNTIL THE DAY I DIE. and for those who are asleep at the switch, w/ the talk of the dream being fullfilled in a survey done by cnn all 69% of you. need to take off them maid and butler suits. that mentality of “WE’S DOING ALRIGHT NOW” is the same thinking that caused them people to roll that trojan horse up to your gate, to roll that horse up to all your homes etc.. while you party and celebrate and sleep . understand tomorrow begins a new chapter. a new day don’t let them catch you sleeping.
Maybe it is just me…..but I felt Elizabeth Alexander’s poem for the inauguration did not generate a memorable momemt. It was not very exciting or inspiring. I know she has written some very good poems in the past, but this one did not “fit the bill” for me…….No Maya Angelou!
WOW!!!!!! What WONDERFUL time for us ALL!! A time to celebrate and be proud!!!
THANK U JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remeber, lets all continue to pray for and support our President.
Oh, and they all looked FAB!!!!!!!!!! Gold is defin. Michell’s color.
What a sight to see, this is truly a moment to remember! The monemt he was sworn in is a wallpaper on my phone!
President Baracl Obama,
I pray that your presidency is one of greatness and prosperity. As this nation and the world come together to make this a better world, it is with great pleasure and pride that we have you guiding and leading the free world.
CONGRATS AMERICANS!!!
Having had to drink from the “blacks only” water fountain, not being able to enter through the front door of doctor’s offices and other racial issues we faced growing up in the deep south…. this moment is TRUELY a blessing for me. I’m so proud to be an American, especially an African American. I mean, I’ve always been proud of my color, this just makes me feel like I can finally see real change . Thank you President Obama for having the courage to stand up for ALL of us. God bless you and your family and God bless America.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! My President is Black.. The first family looked so beautiful. CNN recognized that Chief Justice Roberts messed up the oath.. President Barack already knew it. It doesn’t matter My President finally looks like me.
Oh? Thanks for clearing it up #26/27. I took it lightly anyway it was cute. Gosh Judge you had to mess it up for the first ethnic prez huh. I knew it cause I know O is a planner. I know he knew that oath front and back but it was the guy the ‘had’ to fallow. It’s just an Obama thing to PLAN before doing something. So it had to be the mistake of something he couldn’t control the judge.
A Beautiful & Historic moment.
John Roberts botches the oath and Obama is going to get blamed for it.
OH WELL!! He’s already President!
Those little girls are too adorable. I want to babysit! Can that be part of my “call to service?”
Michelle is just gorgeous. So nice to see a brown-skinned black woman standing tall and proud next to her husband.
I may be the only one who actually felt a little sorry for Bush. I doubt he expected so many to be THRILLED he is gone when he was sworn in 8 years ago. Hopefully Obama will keep this in mind with the decisions he makes. Public opinion can change in an instant. Good luck, Barry!
@ 33
I totally agree, that poem left much to be desired. It was hard to follow where she was going with the poem, because it was truly all over the place. Why didn’t anyone ask Maya Angelou or Nikki Giovanni to come
“We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around.”
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!!
What a beautiful ceremony and Rev J E Lowry was soo funny. I wish he was my grandad
#33, I disagree, I thought it was remarkable! It was very fitting considering the times we are in, it was more about the words than the delivery
I proud to be an American yall! Happy Obama Day
HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY EVERYONE!!
We must pray for our leaders as President Obama is walking into a hornets nest left by his predecessors. We wish him the best, both my husband and I “closed up shop” today to celebrate this historic event with friends and family. We just had a roundtable and everyone got a chance to say what this day meant to them, it was overwhelming – not a dry eye in the room.
I am blessed to see such an historic event.
WE have now come full circle!!.. GO OBAMA!!
THAT WAS SWEET AND GOOD I AM STILL THERE NEXT STOP THE BALL I AM ON MY WAY TO SEE THE OUR NEW PEZ GOING TO HIS NEW HOME THE WHITE HOUSE. AND THE BALL ALL 10 OF THEM ONE PRIVITE ONE . YEAH MEN I AM MAKING HISTORY TO. I CANT WEIT TO GO BACK HOME AND WORK. LOL
@SHAIY – it was actually Roberts who messed up the oath, not Obama.
But anyway, I am so proud right now, words cannot express the immense joy I feel. Black people, American people, it’s time to step it up!!
WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE ????????
Ooh, Happy Day, Ooh Happy Day, Ooh Happy Day, when Jesus washed. Washed our sins away. Ooh Happy Day !!!
God is real !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazing!!! God is Good
THE GOOD LORD HAS TRULY SMILED ON THIS COUNRTY TODAY…NO MORE “PRESIDENT ELECT FOR U MY MAN…U OFFICIAL NOW BABY!!! I THOUGHT THE REV LAWRY’S BENEDICTION WAS AMAZING, OBAMA’S SPEECH WAS THE PERFECT FIT AND I’M JUST SO PROUD, I CAN’T EVEN PUT INTO WORDZ MY EXCITEMENT AND MY HAPPINESS 4 THIS SPECTACULAR MOMENT IN HISTORY. THIS MAN ALONE HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF NATIONS, RELIGIONS, AND RACES. NOT GONNA LIE THOUGH I DID FEEL A SENSE OF SYMPATHY 4 BUSH ONLY 4 THE SIMPLE FACT THAT IF I WERE IN HIS SHOES I WOULD FEEL LIKE A FAILURE, AND THE QUESTION OF ” WHAT DID I REALLY ACCOMPLISH AFTER 8 YRS FOR THIS COUNTRY?” WOULD LINGER IN MY MIND AS WELL AS “WHAT KIND OF LEGACY DID I LEAVE AS A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?” THE ANSWER TO BOTH QUESTIONS IS “NOTHING” & “NONE”…OH WELL!!..WE ALL HAVE 2 LIVE WITH OUR MISTAKES, MOVE ON AND LET THOSE WHO ARE CAPABLE, WILLING, LEVEL HEADED TO TAKE OVER…WELCOME HOME MR. PRESIDENT!!!
Congrats to both PRESIDENT Obama and Vice President Biden. It shows great progression but please don’t think this means everything that was promised will be fixed instantly because 4 years will not fix everything thats messed up with our country right now. The Obama team has a very difficult task in front of them and unless they can work miracles its going to take a while before we see improvement.
I was just beautiful. Everything went smoothly. Michelle did not let me down at all with that outfit. It was smokin! The girls, always cute and of course my man Barack had his usual poise and swagger. I continue to pray that the Lord will watch over and guide him everyday as he has taken on the toughest role at the hardest time.
This was not only a histroric event but it was beautiful to all races come together and become one…
Aint God good!?!!?!?
Aight, let the work begin you guys!
To God be the GLORY!!!! It feels soooo good to be able to oficially say PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!!
REV LOWRY WAS AMAZING!!!!!!! YELLOW IS MELLOW, BLACK IS BACK WHITE NEED TO GET RIGHT…ALL OF THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. LOL
CL SEEM TO BE THE ONLY BLOG UPDATING!
May God Bless and keep the Obama’s safe.
ARETHA FRANKLIN IS TRULY A CLASSIC VOICE. Her rendition was heart stirring. She was so reserved, and the tone, delivery, and ease of her performance was absolutely fitting.