Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday before a massive crowd reveling in a moment of historical significance, and called on Americans to confront together an economic crisis that he said was caused by “our collective failure to make hard choices.”
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Mr. Obama spoke just after noon to a sea of cheering people, appearing to number well over a million, who packed the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and beyond. Four hours later, at the end of the parade route, he left his car and strolled with his wife along Pennsylvania Avenue on the final steps of a long march to the White House, holding hands and waving to cheering crowds.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Obama acknowledged the change his presidency represented, describing himself in his inaugural address as a “man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant.” But although the crowd and the podium around him were full of elated African Americans, Mr. Obama, the first black to become president, did not dwell on that in his speech.
He spoke for about 20 minutes, after taking the oath of office on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inaugural in 1861, emphasizing his determination to unite Americans in confronting both the economic challenges facing him and the continuing fight against terrorism.
The problems, he warned, “are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.”
Later, during a luncheon with members of Congress, Mr. Obama urged lawmakers to come together “with a sense of purpose and civility and urgency.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything,” he told the lawmakers, who are already at work on major parts of his agenda. “And I assure you our administration will make mistakes.”
The festive luncheon ended on a subdued note after Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who has brain cancer, was stricken with convulsions. Hours later, the chairman of neurosurgery at the Washington Hospital Center said Mr. Kennedy, the 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat, had suffered a seizure from “simple fatigue,” but was awake and “feeling well” and would be released in the morning.
With his wife, Michelle, holding the Bible, Mr. Obama, the 47-year-old son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Africa, was sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.a few minutes after noon, a little later than planned, and spoke immediately afterward.
Because the ceremony ran slightly long, Mr. Obama did not recite the oath of office until just after noon, the moment when he officially became president. And there was an awkward moment during the swearing-in when Justice Roberts and Mr. Obama, who is famed for his elocution, mixed up their words slightly.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Obama promised to take “bold and swift” action to restore the economy by creating jobs through public works projects, improving education, promoting alternative energy and relying on new technology.
“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America,” Mr. Obama said.
Hours later, the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, signed a memorandum sent to agencies and departments to stop all pending regulations until a legal and policy review could be conducted by the Obama administration.
Turning to foreign affairs, the new president made note the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the “far-reaching network of violence and hatred” that seek to harm the country. He used strong language in pledging to confront terrorism, nuclear proliferation and other threats from abroad, saying to the nation’s enemies, “you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”
But he also signaled a clean break from some of the Bush administration’s policies on national security. “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” he said, adding that the United States is “ready to lead once more.”
The poet Elizabeth Alexander, in a speech following the swearing in, paid tribute to the contributions of working Americans and slaves.
“Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of,” she said.
Former President Bill Clinton, making his way through the Capitol after the ceremony, called the speech thoughtful, weighty and well-delivered.
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