Barack Obama Sworn in as America's 44th President

21 January 2009

 

U.S. President Barack Obama

Barack H. Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.  After taking the oath of office on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inaugural in 1861, Barack Obama spoke for about 20 minutes and emphasized the need for Americans to unite in confronting the challenges that lay ahead.  He evoked an emotional response and a long applause from the cheering crowd gathered at the National Mall when he said:  "The problems 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.” 

Please click here to download the full text of Obama's inaugural address

Barack Obama's story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.

He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.

President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.

He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.