Tuesday, January 20, 2009

44th US President will make history



   

"Tomorrow we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King's dream echoes still," said the president-elect, President-elect Barack Obama invoking the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the national holiday in his honor. Who stood at the threshold of the White House on Monday, summoning fellow Americans to join him in service as tens of thousands flocked to the nation's capital to celebrate his inauguration as the first black president.

The 47-year-old former senator takes office at noon Tuesday at a time of economic crisis at home and two wars overseas. But the challenges of the moment receded into the background for many who came for a chance to witness history.

For Obama, the day was stripped of partisan politics, and he ended it by lavishing praise on Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, his opponent in last fall's campaign. In remarks prepared for a dinner in honor of his one-time rival, he called the former Vietnam prisoner of war a "rare and courageous public servant," who places country before party.

"Let us strive always to find that common ground, and to defend together those common ideals, for it is the only way we can meet the very big and very serious challenges that we face right now," said Obama, who also arranged to attend dinners for Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican.

Uniformed military personnel patrolled Washington street corners, the advance guard of a massive security presence planned for the oath-taking, inaugural speech, parade and other festivities. Officers checked out some suspicious packages and vehicles, but everything was cleared, said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko. "The city and the people seem to be in a good mood and good spirits," he said. "Security is going well, that's what all the planning is for."

George W. Bush was in the White House for a final full day as president after two terms marked by the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the economic collapse of 2008. He placed calls to world leaders, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and commuted the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol Guards.

On Tuesday morning, he and first lady Laura Bush will greet Obama and his wife, Michelle, at the storied mansion's front portico and see them in for a brief visit. By the time Obama returns at mid-afternoon, he will be the nation's 44th president, Bush will be en route to a Texas retirement, and the moving vans will have departed with one family's belongings and arrived with the other's.

source: news.yahoo.com

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