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Obama takes power, urges unity vs. 'raging storms'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-21 08:04 The drama exceeded even the breathless buildup of recent days' nearly nonstop discussion on TV, blogs, podcasts and text messages. Not only heavily policed and barricaded Washington but much of the country virtually halted in its tracks -- even, albeit briefly, inside the casinos of Las Vegas.
The nation has celebrated 55 inaugurations, but none like the one that made a president out of the son of Kenya and Kansas, a man who rose to America's highest office largely untested at executive leadership, his political experience encompassing only four years in the US Senate and eight in the state legislature of his home state of Illinois. Blacks especially powered the jubilation that was thick in the chilly air. Even though Obama didn't give the topic of race, his or others, much treatment in either his campaign nor his inaugural, blacks poured into Washington from all over to watch firsthand as one of their own at last shattered a painful racial barrier.
Many others also see in Obama fresh reason for optimism at a time of great national insecurity. Or a chance for rest from the eight acrimonious years of the Bush presidency. Or even a turn toward modernity, as a country hurtling into new ways of communicating, connecting and conducting business chose a man more comfortable in that world than any leader before him. Excitement over Obama's young, camera-ready family and the thought of Malia Obama and her sister, 7-year-old Sasha, turning the stately White House into a children's playroom also figured prominently in the day. Among the feverishly discussed questions: What would fashion-forward Michelle Obama be wearing when the first couple arrived at their first evening ball to dance to pop singer Beyonce crooning the old blues classic "At Last"? The shimmering gold brocade sheath dress and matching coat that she chose for the daytime sparked immediate watercooler discussion, especially when she paired the outfit with green gloves against the cold. In a country nearly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, it was notable that protests were nearly unseen, a remarkable shift from the two Bush inaugurations that were marked by boisterous demonstrations. One group of about 20 people from a Baptist church in Kansas demonstrated with anti-gay slogans. With his White House campaign and landslide November victory built in part on his rhetorical gifts, Obama sought to provide reassurance for the future while compelling listeners to sacrifice. He articulated eloquently the deeper effect on the American psyche of the problems of war and recession: "a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights." Not so, said Obama. But he cautioned that the effort will require all citizens, no matter party, age, skin color, or status, to get to work. "The time has come to set aside childish things," he said, invoking the Bible. "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned." Bush, the man who has led the nation the past eight years, hosted the Obamas for coffee in the morning, accompanied them to the Capitol and sat tightlipped in the front row for Obama's swearing-in and speech. Obama thanked Bush for his service as president and never directly criticized him. But he also repeatedly talked of the need to abandon current practices, whether "the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics," the lack of a watchful enough eye on financial markets, or what he called a false choice between safety and ideals -- a reference to brutal interrogation practices and other actions taken by the Bush administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come," Obama said. Afterward, he escorted his predecessor to a helicopter and Bush flew first to Andrews Air Force Base for a private departure ceremony, then on to a welcome rally in Midland, Texas and finally, by nightfall, his ranch near Crawford, Texas. As the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity, the now ex-president left Washington under the cloud of approval ratings hovering at historic lows. People in the crowd booed when Bush's image was flashed on jumbotrons and one contingent near the Capitol sang "Na-na-na-na, hey, hey, goodbye" in a jeering farewell. For all the new president's call to joint effort, it is political reality that it will largely be up to Obama himself to meet soaring expectations -- both those he has created for himself and those others have placed on him unbidden. In the Oval Office awaits the workaday, hard-nosed business of the daily governance of a nation of 304 million. And while Washington celebrated, events kept moving: Wall Street slid, news surfaced that US carmaker Chrysler could be purchased in part by Italian auto giant Fiat, and prosecutors at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sought to suspend all war-crimes trials pending Obama's guidance. As one of his first official acts, Obama signed a presidential proclamation declaring Tuesday a "National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation." He also officially nominated his Cabinet, except for Commerce and Defense secretaries. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, does not need to be renominated. The Senate convened to quickly confirm six members of the Cabinet but put off for a day the approval on his choice to be secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, because Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas objected to the unanimous vote. Congress already has given Obama $350 billion in new financial-industry bailout money and is fast-tracking a massive economic stimulus bill to be worth $825 billion or more. And Bush has ordered 30,000 more US troops to go to Afghanistan this year, adding to 32,000 already there. But these moves are hardly the last word on the big issues of the day. And some of Obama's attention to those things will undoubtedly be deferred to crises -- a natural disaster, an overseas conflagration -- that can pop onto the scene unexpectedly and consume enormous amounts of White House energy. His transition also produced some missteps that raised questions about whether Obama's highly disciplined, perfectionist organization that proved brilliant at winning an election will be equally brilliant at governing. Obama's team overlooked known problems in the backgrounds of two Cabinet nominees -- Bill Richardson for Commerce and Timothy Geithner for Treasury. They also flubbed the introduction to Congress of Leon Panetta as CIA director. Obama also was tripped up by controversy surrounding the appointment of his successor in the Senate.
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