Following is my article I wrote for class today on the inauguration. It isn't exactly what I wanted to write, but I was trying to take on the opinion of everyone else so I could maybe get a good grade this time.
A chapter made for history books was unveiled today as Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the first African-American president of the U.S.
The estimated crowd of 2 million camouflaged the national mall as far as could be seen from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Distinguishable chants of “Obama” rang through the sea of audience as they waited for the man of the hour to make his appearance.
After Vice President Joe Biden, clad in a democratic-blue tie and the smile of a next-in-line president, swore his oath and kissed his family, Obama and his entourage filed out onto the platform amid cheers and tears.
With his right hand raised and his left placed on the same Holy Bible that President Abraham Lincoln once himself swore upon, Obama repeated after Chief Justice John G. Roberts the words that would deem him Mr. President.
But along with one third of the country and nearly the entire governmental staff, Obama’s nerves were present. He stammered through the first few words of the oath and even required Roberts to repeat a phrase he was to recite.
A kiss on the cheek to his golden-clad wife, Michelle, and a scan of his audience of millions began the speech that, for some, would be as inspirational and monumental as the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I thank President (George W.) Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition,” Obama said in his opening statement.
Bush, who was minutes out of his legacy as forty-third U.S. president, kept a straight face for the cameras as Obama uttered gratitude and throughout the inaugural address.
But Obama continued the inauguration that the New York Daily News estimated cost nearly $150 million.
“Our economy is badly weakened,” he said, “a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”
He conceded that the challenges America now faces are real, they are serious, and they are many. He promised, however, that those challenges will be met, although not easily or quickly. Applause erupted throughout the national mall and inevitably in homes across the nation.
With the sun reflecting off his American flag lapel pin, Obama praised his country.
“We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth,” he said. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
In the crowd, a man keeping warm in a crocheted cap yawned as the camera zoomed in on his face. But the new president was not retiring from his speech just yet.
He addressed the “guardians of our liberty,” soldiers who Obama said “have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.” And although the government has power to change and uses that power to do so, he said it is “ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.”
With a “God bless the United States of America,” Obama concluded his speech that will inevitably make its way to history books.
Chants of “yes we can” from the millions looking on sang through the national mall as Obama and Bush walked side by side into the Capitol building, and as Obama possibly thought, “yes, I did.”
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