The second
inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
as
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
was the 57th inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final term of Obama as president and
Joe Biden as
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
. A private swearing-in ceremony took place on Sunday, January 20, 2013, in the
Blue Room of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. A public inauguration ceremony took place on Monday, January 21, 2013, at the West Front of the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The inauguration theme was "Faith in America's Future", a phrase that draws upon the 150th anniversary of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
and the completion of the
Capitol dome
The United States Capitol features a dome situated above its rotunda. The dome is in height and in diameter. Designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, it was constructed between 1855 and 1866 at a cost of $1,047,291 ( ...
in 1863. The theme also stressed the "perseverance and unity" of the United States and echoed the "Forward" theme used in the closing months of
Obama's reelection campaign. The inaugural events held in Washington, D.C., from January 19 to 21, 2013, included concerts, a national day of community service on
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the swearing-in ceremony, luncheon and parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith
inaugural prayer service. The
presidential oath was administered to Obama during his swearing-in ceremony on January 20 and 21, 2013, by
Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...
.
In his second inauguration address, Obama proclaimed that "while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth". He called for laws to
combat
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
,
enactment
Enactment may refer to:
Law
* Enactment of a bill, when a bill becomes law
* Enacting formula, formulaic words in a bill or act which introduce its provisions
* Enactment (British legal term), a piece of legislation or a legal instrument made un ...
of
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
and
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
. Obama stated that more progress was needed on human rights and civil rights (including
racial minority rights,
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, and
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
). He vowed to promote democracy abroad and stated that the United States must "be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice" around the world. Additionally, the president vowed to keep existing alliances strong, emphasized the economic recovery and the end of wars, and stated that "no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation". During the speech, Obama linked the
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman".Wellman, 2004, p. 189 Held in the Wesleyan Methodist Church ...
,
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the ...
and
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
.
Approximately one million people attended the inauguration, and millions more watched from around the world.
Planning
![Barack Obama before 2013 inauguration](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Barack_Obama_before_2013_inauguration.jpg)
The inauguration was planned primarily by two committees: the
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies A Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is a special joint committee of the United States Congress formed every four years to manage presidential inaugurations. Such committee has been formed every four years since the 1901 inauguration of Willi ...
and the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee. The committee began construction of the inaugural platform on September 20, 2012.
Joint Congressional committee
The swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural luncheon for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Obama and Vice President Biden were planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a committee composed of
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
s
Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
of New York, committee chair,
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee fro ...
of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
of
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, and
United States Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
s
John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
of California. The committee is overseen by the
U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
Military support to the 57th inauguration was coordinated by
Joint Task Force National Capital Region
Joint Task Force National Capital Region (JTF NCR) is an element of United States Northern Command tasked to support presidential inaugurations. .
Commander United States Northern Command tasked Joint Task Force National Capital Region to plan, co ...
, providing musical
military units
Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation' ...
,
marching band
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...
s,
color guard
In Military, military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of Colours, standards and guidons, regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is so prestigious that the militar ...
s, ushers, firing details, and
salute batteries.
On January 7, 2013,
Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio (pronounced GIG-leo; born June 30, 1958) is an American Christian pastor. He is the leader of Passion City Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The founder of the Passion Movement, he is an author and public speaker.
Biography
Gigl ...
was selected to deliver the benediction at the ceremony. Giglio at first accepted, but then withdrew in response to a controversy over a mid-1990s sermon "in which he called on Christians to fight the 'aggressive agenda' of the
gay-rights movement". The substitution of Rev. Luis Leon, pastor of
Saint John's Church near the White House, was announced on January 15.
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams (née Beasley; born March 17, 1933) is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist ...
, widow of civil rights activist
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
, delivered the invocation.
On January 8, 2013,
Richard Blanco
Richard Blanco (born February 15, 1968) is an American poet, public speaker, author and civil engineer. He is the fifth poet to read at a United States presidential inauguration, having read the poem " One Today" for Barack Obama's second ...
was named the inaugural poet for
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's second inauguration, the fifth person to play that role. He was the first immigrant, first Latino, first gay person, and at the time, the youngest to be inaugural poet.
Presidential Inaugural Committee
The 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee organized several other inauguration-related events at the direction of the President and Vice President of the United States, such as the concerts, parade, balls and prayer service. The co-chairs of the committee were former presidents
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
,
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
,
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, along with Ambassador
Matthew Barzun
Matthew Winthrop Barzun (born October 23, 1970) is an American businessman, diplomat and political fundraiser who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He is a business executive who is known for his work with CNET Networks ...
,
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime ...
,
Jane Stetson and Frank White.
Other positions were held by
Jim Messina, who oversaw the Inaugural parade,
Stephanie Cutter,
Jen O'Malley Dillon
Jennifer Brigid O'Malley Dillon (born September 28, 1976) is an American political strategist and List of Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign staff members, campaign manager serving as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, White House deputy chi ...
,
Julianna Smoot
Julianna Smoot is an American political aide and fundraiser for the Democratic Party. She served as a Deputy Manager of Barack Obama's 2012 presidential reelection campaign, having previously served as White House Social Secretary, Deputy Assista ...
,
Rufus Gifford
John Rufus Gifford (born August 5, 1974) is an American politician, diplomat, and reality television personality, who serves as the chief of protocol of the United States. Between 2013 and 2017, he was the United States Ambassador to Denmark. ...
and
Patrick Gaspard
Patrick Hubert Gaspard (born 1967) is an American former diplomat who serves as president of Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank.
A noted Democratic Party leader and strategist, Gaspard served as executive director of the D ...
.
Pre-inaugural events
Kids' Inaugural: "Our Children. Our Future."
![MObama Kids Inaugural Concert 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/MObama_Kids_Inaugural_Concert_2013.jpg)
On the evening of January 19, 2013, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden hosted the "Kids' Inaugural: Our Children. Our Future." event at the
Washington Convention Center
The Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. was a convention center located one block southwest at 909 H Street NW, occupying the city block bounded by New York Avenue, 9th Street, H Street, and 11th Street.[Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...]
,
Usher, and members of the cast of ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' honored military families in concert.
Other celebrity participants included
Mindless Behavior
Mindless Behavior was an American boy band who were best known for the singles " My Girl" and "Mrs. Right", produced by Walter Millsap. The band was put together in Los Angeles in 2008, by Keisha Gamble, Vincent Herbert and Walter Millsap. The ban ...
,
Far East Movement
Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Vi ...
, and
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American television host, actor, rapper, and comedian. In television, Cannon began as a teenager on ''All That'' before going on to host ''The Nick Cannon Show'', ''Wild 'n Out'', ''America's G ...
, who served as emcee for the event.
[ In keeping with the service theme of the day, Michelle Obama issued a call for children to become engaged in public service by volunteering in homeless shelters, visiting seniors, or writing letters to U.S. troops.
]
Inaugural events
Official swearing-in ceremonies
Since 1937, the four-year term of the president and vice president have ended and begun at noon on January 20, as prescribed by the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twentieth Amendment (Amendment XX) to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United States, vice president from March4 to January ...
. Because January 20, 2013, fell on a Sunday, both Obama and Biden were officially sworn in privately, and then again the following day in a public ceremony. This was the fifth time, since the start of Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
's term in office, in 1877, that the oath of office was officially administered in a Sunday private ceremony. Chief Justice John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
administered the oath of office to the President on January 20 in the Blue Room at the White House. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
administered the oath to the Vice President on the same date at Number One Observatory Circle
Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Located on the northeast grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory superintenden ...
, the official residence of the vice president. While reciting his oath, Biden's hand rested upon a Bible that had been in his family since 1893 and which he had used in every swearing-in ceremony since entering the U.S. Senate in 1973.[ Obama used a Bible owned by the family of First Lady Michelle Obama when he took his oath of office.]
This was only the third time in history that a vice president was sworn in outside of the Capitol grounds, after William King's in Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...
, Cuba in 1853, and Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
at the White House in 1945.
Public inauguration: "Faith in America's Future"
The public inaugural ceremony took place at the West Front of the United States Capitol on January 21, 2013. The ceremony opened with the playing of pre‑recorded music and a live performance of the Fifth-grade chorus from Public School 22, followed by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. Senator Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, acted as the day's Master of Ceremonies. Courtney Williams, Senior Chief Musician and concert moderator for the U.S. Navy Concert Band, served as the platform announcer.
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams (née Beasley; born March 17, 1933) is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist ...
, the widow of slain civil-rights leader Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
, delivered the invocation
An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of:
*Supplication, prayer or spell.
*A form of possession.
*Command or conjuration.
*Self-identification with certain spirits.
These forms are ...
, followed by a performance of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe.
Howe wrote her l ...
" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
. Vice President Biden took his oath from Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
. After completing his oath of office as the vice president, Biden received in his honor the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes
Ruffles and flourishes are preceding fanfare for honors music, ceremonial music for distinguished people.
By country Israel
In the Israeli Defence Forces, ruffles and flourishes are sounded as a guard of honor presents arms to signify the honors ...
and the march "Hail, Columbia
"Hail, Columbia" is an American patriotic song and ceremonial entrance march of the vice president of the United States. It was originally considered to be one of the unofficial national anthems of the United States until 1931, when "The St ...
" by members of the armed forces. This was followed by a performance of "America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never m ...
" by James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
.
After the performance of "America the Beautiful", Chief Justice John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
administered the oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
to President Obama. After he had completed the oath of office as the president, Obama received in his honor the 21-gun salute
A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...
and the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes and the march "Hail to the Chief
"Hail to the Chief" is the personal anthem of the president of the United States, adapted by James Sanderson from an original Scottish Gaelic melody.
The song's playing accompanies the appearance of the president of the United States at many ...
" by members of the armed forces. Following the salute, Obama delivered his inaugural address to the crowds as the president of the United States at 11:53 AM Eastern Time, which was 2,137 words long and took 18.5 minutes to deliver. This was followed by a performance by vocalist Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...
, who sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee
"America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)" is an American patriotic song, the lyrics of which were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The song served as one of the ''de facto'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like "Hail, Columb ...
". Poet Richard Blanco
Richard Blanco (born February 15, 1968) is an American poet, public speaker, author and civil engineer. He is the fifth poet to read at a United States presidential inauguration, having read the poem " One Today" for Barack Obama's second ...
then delivered the inaugural poem, followed by Rev. Luis Leon, who delivered the benediction. Vocalist Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
concluded the ceremony with a performance of the United States national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
".
Oath of office
During the public inaugural ceremony at the United States Capitol on January 21, Associate Justice Sotomayor administered the oath to Vice President Joe Biden, and then Chief Justice Roberts administered the Presidential oath to President Barack Obama minutes after Vice President Biden received his oath. At the public inaugural ceremony, Vice President Biden was sworn in using the Biden family Bible, while President Obama was sworn in using two Bibles owned by Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
President Obama became the 17th U.S. president to be re-elected for a second term of office.[
]
Inaugural address
After Barack Obama had recited the oath of office, he delivered his inaugural address. The inaugural address had a length of 2,137 words and President Obama took 18.5 minutes to deliver it between 11:53 a.m. and 12:12 p.m. In a speech "heavy on broad rhetoric and light on policy specifics" as noted by the ''Washington Post'' Obama's second inaugural speech was regarded as laying out a broad liberal or progressive agenda, supporting gay rights and climate change reform. Obama, who "largely eschewed foreign policy except to recommend engagement over war, and instead focused on addressing poverty and injustice at home", delved in broad strokes into the United States past and its future as he called on ordinary Americans to "shape the debates of our time." Rejecting the belief that in America "freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few" and arguing that "preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action" Obama said "now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act."
Barack Obama used the opening words of the U.S. Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
's preamble, " We, the people", to suggest how to reconcile America's founding truths and the current discord and dysfunction of its embittered political system. He also referenced America's Declaration of Independence stating that our inalienable rights, such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence. Scanned image of the Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, written in June 1776, including ...
, may be self-evident, but never have been self-executing. Obama again invoked the Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
by telling his audience: "What makes us exceptional, what makes us America, is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Obama went on, saying " all of us are created equal" and that the shared equality of the American people guided the United States "through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall"—linking the Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman".Wellman, 2004, p. 189 Held in the Wesleyan Methodist Church ...
, Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the ...
and Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
as key moments in women's rights activism, the civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
, and the LGBT rights movement
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...
in the United States together.
Additional words indicated a commitment to LGBT rights: "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." These words made Obama the first president to use the word ''gay'' as a reference to sexual orientation in an inaugural address. Some analysts interpreted his statement as a reaffirmation of President Obama's previously stated support for same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
. Others noted that all nine justices of the Supreme Court were seated nearby when Obama linked gay and lesbian rights to two other groups whom the court treats with special consideration: women and racial minorities.
President Obama also spoke firmly about climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, immigration reform
Immigration reform is change to the current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, ''reform'' means "to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses". In the political sense, "immigration ...
, and gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
, and argued that they represented important issues for this generation to solve. Noting that "none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms" Obama stated that his administration "will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations." He also argued that America must lead in this area: "The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must claim its promise." "That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God."
Obama commented on the role of government that "Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time — but it does require us to act in our time." And he added while the American people never gave up their skepticism of a strong federal government, they also never believed that the government can fix all ills. In order to prepare America for a rapidly changing world he stressed the need for the political leaders of America to act in common cause. The president argued that "now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay." Obama also made what appeared to be an oblique reference to the partisan battles between himself, the Republican-controlled House and the Senate — where Democrats had control but not a filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
-proof majority. In reference to the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness Obama declared in the context of the partisan battles that " ing true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness." Obama said that the politically gridlocked capital — and, implicitly, the Republicans who have fought his ideas during the 2012 U.S. presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...
— was moving too slowly at a critical moment. "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said. "We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect." Obama added that "the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction — and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service."
The president also addressed the issue of wealth inequality in the United States
Wealth inequality in the United States is the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. Wealth commonly includes the values of any homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments, as wel ...
noting that America "cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well, and a growing many barely make it." "We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own," he declared. Obama spoke of the need to reduce America's health care costs and America's deficit, but he repudiated that America must choose between "caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future." "The commitments we make to each other — through Medicare and Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
and Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
— these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us," Obama said. "They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."
While praising U.S. Armed Forces members for their bravery and strength, Obama asserted that "enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war." This statement was made in the foreign policy section of his inaugural address in which Obama promised diplomacy of engagement backed with military steel, but he did not dwell on specific crises like Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. "We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully - not because we are naive about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear." He also declared the United States "must be a source of hope for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice ..." and stand for "human dignity and justice." Barack Obama also challenged those who favor aggressive use of the powerful U.S. military, calling them to remember the policies of presidents past. "We are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well," said Obama. Obama vowed America "will remain the anchor of strong alliances" and it will support democracy around the world.
The inaugural address made at several points references to famous speeches of America's former leaders. Barack Obama referenced Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
speech by noting that "we cannot walk alone." Obama also made several references to past presidential inaugurations. He referenced the country's civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
experience and its slavery history with allusions to phrases used by Abraham Lincoln: "Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free." This was an allusion to "until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword" from Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration address. The inaugural address of John F. Kennedy
The inauguration of John F. Kennedy as the 35th president of the United States was held on Friday, January 20, 1961, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the 44th inauguration, marking the commencement of K ...
was also referenced. Obama's "this generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience" and later description of "brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle" was an allusion to Kennedy's line of a "new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace." Obama's assertion that America is willing to negotiate with its adversaries "not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear" was reminiscent of Kennedy's words that "civility is not a sign of weakness ... Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
Barack Obama described the American state of affairs with references to the wars in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
as well as the 2007–2009 recession in the United States as follows: "This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America's possibilities are limitless." Obama then added a collective call to action: "My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it - so long as we seize it together." Noting that "Decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay" Obama stressed the need of shielding the weak, the poor and those lacking health care and demanded equality for all races and gay rights, and security from gun crime for children. In the ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Chris Cillizza
Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...
stated in this context that Obama's overall inaugural message was "That we are all in this together and that we will ultimately be judged by how we treat the lowest among us." Cillizza pointed to five sentences of Obama's speech which contained not only Obama's agenda for his second term but also "outlined what he wanted his second term to be—and to mean":
Inaugural poem
Richard Blanco
Richard Blanco (born February 15, 1968) is an American poet, public speaker, author and civil engineer. He is the fifth poet to read at a United States presidential inauguration, having read the poem " One Today" for Barack Obama's second ...
read a poem he wrote for the occasion, '' One Today''. One critic called it "a rare break from the staid custom of ceremony that the rest of the afternoon brought" and another described it as "art meant to orient, to reconfirm collective identity in a time of recent tragedy. ... an optimistic, careful piece meant to encourage, a balm."
Post-ceremony traditions
At the conclusion of his inaugural address, Obama walked back into the Capitol building, then turned for a moment to look out at the National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...
, filled with hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Americans. He said to those close to him: "I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again." Shortly afterward, he signed the Capitol's guest book.
Then, in the President's Room of the U.S. Capitol, with the bipartisan congressional leadership looking on, Obama signed documents submitting the nominations of his nominees for several Cabinet posts, the secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury and the head of the CIA.
Congressional luncheon
Obama then dined on bison and lobster with select members of Congress and guests in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall
The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...
before returning to the White House in the inaugural parade.
Inaugural parade
The inaugural parade route ran along Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...
, N.W. from the U.S. Capitol, ending at the north face of the White House. During most of the parade, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama traveled in the armored limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.
A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...
. The President and First Lady exited their limousine, walking on Pennsylvania Avenue for portions of the parade. Vice President Biden, and his wife Jill, also walked the parade route.
Inaugural balls
In a departure from the number of evening balls for the first Obama inauguration, only two official inaugural balls were held to on January 21 celebrate the second inauguration. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended the Commander-In-Chief's Ball held for members of the U.S. military and attended the Inaugural Ball, an invitation-only public gala held as a unified celebration for all Americans. Both inaugural balls were held on January 21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...
serenaded the Obamas as they danced to Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
's " Let's Stay Together" during both the Commander-in-Chief's Ball and the Inaugural Ball. Other performers who were scheduled to perform at the inaugural balls included Usher, Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
, Black Violin
Black Violin is an American hip hop duo from Fort Lauderdale, Florida comprising two classically trained string instrumentalists, Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, who go by the stage names Kev Marcus and Wil B. Kev Marcus plays the violin ...
, Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...
, Far East Movement
Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Vi ...
, Fun
Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment".
Etymology and usage
The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...
, members of the ''Glee'' cast, John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...
, Maná
Maná () is a Mexican pop rock band. The band is considered one of the best-selling Latin music artists and the most successful Latin American band of all time with over 40 million records sold worldwide. The group's current lineup consists o ...
, Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
, and Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
.
On January 22, a private staff-only inaugural ball was held for White House aides and administration staff, Obama for America campaign staff, and the Inaugural Committee staff, was held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, a tradition started by the President and First Lady during the 2009 inauguration to express thanks for the work of the staff. Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
and Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
provided entertainment for the group.
President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama led the group in the chant, "fired up, ready to go" that was carried over from the 2008 and 2012 election campaigns. President Obama expressed gratitude and honored the aides and campaign staff for their work, telling the group that "'it makes imknow that America's future is in good hands' ... 'as long as all of you understand the immense and incredible power that you possess when you work together, when you join voices.'"
During the staff inaugural ball, President Obama also paid tribute to Alex Okrent, a 29-year-old campaign staffer who died after collapsing at the 2012 Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. Proceeds from ticket sales for the staff inaugural ball, where tickets sold at $10.00 apiece, were used to support a memorial fund for Okrent.[
]
National prayer service
President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, gathered at the Washington National Cathedral on January 22, 2013, for a national day of prayer. The prayer service was attended by dignitaries and guests of diverse faiths for a day of prayers, readings, and musical performances. As in the case of the prayer service for the 2009 inauguration, the theme of the interfaith worship service reflected inclusiveness and religious diversity, ranging from a mix of Protestant pastors, female Rabbi, Hindu, and Muslim religious leaders to Catholic and Episcopal bishops. Featured speakers at the prayer service included religious leaders from the National African American Clergy Network, Islamic Society of North America, in addition to the Metropolitan Community Churches that served as a spiritual refuge and place of worship for gay Christians.[
]
Reaction to inaugural address
The loudest response from the audience at the National Mall coincided with Obama's remarks supporting equal pay for women
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
and equal treatment for sexual minorities, when he stated that America's journey to equality is incomplete "until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts," and "until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law." Obama "made history", said Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, when Obama connected the struggle of gay couple to the equal rights movement writ large. "By lifting up the lives of LGBT families for the very first time in an inaugural address, President Obama sent a clear message to LGBT young people from the Gulf Coast to the Rocky Mountains that this country's leaders will fight for them until equality is the law of the land," Griffin said in a release. This was however rejected by Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which has led campaigns against legalizing same-sex marriage. Brown said gay couples are "already treated equally under the law." "They have the same civil rights as anyone else; they have the right to live as they wish and love whom they choose," he said in a release. "What they don't have is the right to redefine marriage for all of society."
Obama's second inaugural speech was regarded as laying out a broad liberal or progressive agenda, supporting gay rights and climate change reform. David Gergen
David Richmond Gergen (born May 9, 1942) is an American political commentator and former presidential adviser who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He is currently a senior political ...
, professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, for example, called the speech "the strongest embrace of 20th-century liberalism since Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society. And Brian Balogh, a professor of history at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, added that Obama's second inaugural address mattered in comparison to previous second inaugural speeches "because future historians will mark it as the moment that Obama explained why he is a progressive. The programs that Obama called for were characteristically liberal: reaffirming the social safety net, equal pay for women, etc. Nothing new here -- just the Obama classic. What differed this time, and what this moment was made for (to twist the president's own words) was articulating the progressive rationale for these programmatic ends. "Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action," Obama proudly told the nation." The ''Washington Posts Zachary A. Goldfarb, who covers economic policy and the White House for the Post, rejected the notion that Obama's speech was liberal. He wrote: "Obama did not advance a liberal agenda. A consequential one, certainly, but one that reflects centrist views or center-left ones at most. The agenda seems liberal only when judged against the liberal-conservative divide we're used to in Washington. ... Obama's inaugural speech sounded liberal because he offered the kind of robust defense of government's role in the nation's life that has seldom been heard from Democratic politicians after President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
declared in 1996 that 'the era of big government is over.'"
Republican congressional leaders had a muted, bipartisan response to Obama's second inaugural address and expressed their hope for cooperation between their party and Obama. "There are plenty of areas of disagreement but there are also some things that, fundamentally, we agree on -- and that is this country is one of opportunity," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
said. He added that there were partisan differences over "the way we get there to help everybody. ... Hopefully, we can bridge those differences." Cantor however warned, that, if Obama follows what Cantor called a liberal agenda, then that agenda it's not designed to bring Republicans and the president together. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated in a written statement that every four years on Inaugural Day America shows the world that its major political parties can disagree with civility and mutual respect. McConnell wrote that Obama's speech was a "fresh start" to address the issue of federal spending and debt: "Republicans are eager to work with the president on achieving this common goal and we firmly believe that divided government provides the perfect opportunity to do so. Together, there is much we can achieve." He also praised Obama's speech as "a really good speech. People can criticize President Obama about a lot of things. But not his ability to communicate. I think he communicated to the American people a message of hope, a message of action and I liked it very much."
Other Republicans were critical of Obama. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said Obama mischaracterized Republicans' position on federal entitlement programs. "No one is suggesting that what we call our earned entitlements – entitlements you pay for, like payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security – are putting you in a 'taker' category." Ryan contended that Obama made a "switcheroo" in his speech by suggesting that Republicans have referred to beneficiaries of those programs as "takers." In reality, he said, that term refers to recipients of welfare and other non-"earned" entitlements. U.S. Senator Mike Lee, a frequent Obama critic, expressed his opinion that Obama chose not to unite the country, but to divide the American people. "This is not the approach of a leader attempting to find solutions to problems but rather the tactics of a partisan trying to pick political fights. His vision for the next four years is clear: defend a broken system, ignore the fiscal crisis, and drive future generations further into debt." Other Republicans like John McCain ("I didn't hear any conciliatory remarks") and "pundits from the D.C. establishment" also complained about Obama's speech. ''The Washington Post'''s Dana Milbank, for example, wrote that Obama's address "was less an inaugural address for the ages than a leftover campaign speech combined with an early draft of the State of the Union address."
While Professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University Julian Zelizer called the speech a "powerful oration for a contentious moment in national politics", Georgetown University professor Donna Brazile called it "a deeply moving and patriotic speech" and "one of the most effective usages of the founding documents' principles as a supporting narrative -- drawing us from the past to the present to the future" by "a president sharing with the nation his values most personal and vision most spiritual." Oxford University historian Timothy Stanley wrote that Obama, compared to "one of those "bring us together", delivered "a more policy specific speech that reflected the difficult, partisan reality of 2013." Obama's moral commitment to gay rights - expressed in the words "for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well" was "controversial but admirably courageous." For Maria Cardona, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, "Obama's message is still one of hope and change. ... He gave his supporters hope he will continue to fight for them. He gave all Americans the assurance the country will continue to change for the better."
Senior political columnist for ''Newsweek'' and ''The Daily Beast'' John Avlon lauded Obama for "an audacious speech to the extent that Obama sought to reclaim politicized concepts like American exceptionalism from their conservative contexts, making the case that the combination of diversity and opportunity makes the American Dream possible for each new generation." But Avlon also criticed Obama writing that "the scope of the speech was sprawling and dotted with policy references more suited to a State of the Union address. It was not tightly framed or focused on a single concept, nor was there a single clear phrase that summed up the speech, at least at first listen."
President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
former deputy chief speechwriter Gordon Stewart wrote that Obama's "magnificent" second inaugural address was far better than his First inauguration of Barack Obama, first inaugural address. Stewart lauded that Obama for emerging "as a leader who has stopped splitting differences and is prepared to make choices and fight for them." According to Stewart both Obama's supporters and opponents have a clearer idea what Obama will do in his second term. Former CNN producer and correspondent Frida Ghitis complained that Obama devoted nearly all his inaugural speech to domestic issues and said that international disengagement isn't an option for America. According to Ghitis the aspirations Obama "expressed for America are the ones he should express for our tumultuous planet." She expressed her hopes that Obama "can remember America's leadership position and devote more attention to those around the world who see it as a source of inspiration and encouragement." After neglecting to mention a single foreign country by name during his address, ''The Economist'' concluded that Obama's "second term will have little emphasis on foreign affairs."
Gergen noticed that Obama stressed equality in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
". According to Gergen the speech Obama's was "firmest attempt to build upon Lincoln and King - and in effect, his address made him their modern heir." President Obama's green jobs adviser in 2009, Van Jones, called Obama's speech "offered the best rebuttal to date" since "President Ronald Reagan launched an era of anti-government politics with his First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, first inaugural address.". Comparing Reagan and Obama, Van Jones wrote: "Instead of "government is the problem," the president reminded us that we could all fall victim to sudden misfortune. Instead of pinning blame for every social problem on the size of government, the president recognized both individual responsibility and the role of community in giving each child the opportunity to succeed." Van Jones noted both presidents invoked famous places of American history in their inaugural addresses but differed substantially in these places. While Reagan chose places of battles, Obama "tied Stonewall riots, Stonewall in with Selma to Montgomery marches, Selma and cemented his declaration that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights are civil rights." David Rothkopf, CEO and editor-at-large of the FP Group (publishers of ''Foreign Policy'' magazine), wrote that Obama rightly demanded equal rights for gays and equal pay for women. According to Rothkopf Obama's words sketched an America better than what the Founding Fathers of the United States imagined. Rothkopf wrote: "The great beauty of the speech was not in any particular phrase, but in that the man in question and the country he leads were in so many ways far beyond what the Founders could have imagined. And that, despite our natural tendency to glorify our origins, that this America was in virtually every way better than the one they offered up to us."
See also
* Presidency of Barack Obama
* First inauguration of Barack Obama
* Timeline of the Barack Obama presidency (2013)
* 2012 United States presidential election
* Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign
References
External links
The 57th Presidential Inauguration (HD Video with audio) at the White House's Official Website
Official website, United States Congress Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Joint Task Force – National Capital Region, support to the 57th Presidential Inaugural
January 21, 2013: Inaugural Ceremonies for Barack Obama, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Audio of Obama's Second Inaugural Address
Corpus of Political Speeches
publicly accessible with speeches from United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, provided b
Hong Kong Baptist University Library
{{African American topics
Second inauguration of Barack Obama,
2013 speeches
2013 in American politics
2013 in Washington, D.C.
National Special Security Events, Obama, Barack
United States presidential inaugurations, Obama, Barack
Speeches by Barack Obama, Inauguration 2013
Articles containing video clips
January 2013 events in the United States