WASHINGTON --- In front of a jubilant crowd of more than a million people, Barack Hussein Obama claimed his place in history as America's first black president, summoning a dispirited nation to unite in hope against the "gathering clouds and raging storms" of war and economic woe.
On an extraordinary day in the life of America, people of all colors and ages waited for hours Tuesday in frigid temperatures to witness a young black man with a foreign-sounding name take command of a nation founded by slaveholders. It was a scene watched in fascination by many millions -- perhaps billions -- around the world.
"We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord," the nation's 44th president said.
The presidency passed to the Democrat from Republican George W. Bush at the stroke of noon, marking one of democracy's greatest gifts: the peaceful transfer of power.
But a stark transfer all the same. In one of the administration's first acts, Mr. Obama ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until further review -- this after Mr. Bush's final weeks raised heated debate over rushing new rules into effect on the way out the door.
Even though new White House aides struggled to find offices and work intercoms, an overhauled www.whitehouse.gov Web site was running under Mr. Obama's banner within minutes of his swearing-in. "Change has come to America," it declared.
Mr. Obama plunges into his new job in earnest today after capping inaugural festivities at a national prayer service in the morning. He will meet with his economic team and Iraq advisers, and welcome a stream of public visitors into the White House while Congress gives his economic revival plan a going-over and takes up the nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state. Her confirmation has been held up for now by Republican concern over the foundation fundraising of her husband, the former president.
The new president had been buoyant and relaxed through the three days of pre-inaugural festivities. But he seemed somber as he stood on the Capitol steps, placed his left hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln and repeated the inaugural oath "to preserve, protect and defend" a Constitution that originally defined blacks as three-fifths of a person. A deafening cheer went up.
A stumble over the presidential oath was the only bump in an otherwise smooth ceremony.
Initially, Mr. Obama interrupted Chief Justice John Roberts midway through the opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly swears.
Next in the oath is the phrase "that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." But Chief Justice Roberts rearranged the order of the words, not saying "faithfully" until after "president of the United States."
Mr. Obama stopped his repetition abruptly at the word "execute." Recognizing something was off, the chief justice then repeated the phrase, putting "faithfully" in the right place but without repeating "execute."
Mr. Obama then repeated Chief Justice Roberts' original, incorrect version: "... the office of president of the United States faithfully."
After that, they were back on track.
Work is laid out
Unlike most predecessors, Mr. Obama takes office with his agenda in many ways set for him.
An economy that seems more foreboding than at any inauguration since Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, with 11 million people now out of work and trillions of dollars of stock market investments lost. Two wars, one in Iraq that most of the country has long wanted over and another in Afghanistan that is spiraling downward and needs an overhaul. The continuing fear that another calamitous terrorist attack is not out of the question.
More inspirational than prescriptive, Mr. Obama's inaugural address only glancingly mentioned a series of promises from his campaign: get the U.S. out of Iraq, stabilize Afghanistan, create jobs, "restore science to its rightful place," boost the use of alternative energy, address climate change, transform schools, manage government spending wisely and oversee a more bipartisan, less-divisive approach to policy-making.
The world watches
His ascension to the White House was cheered around the world as a sign America will be more embracing, more open to change.
The day began well before dawn as people made their way downtown to secure spots from which to witness history, and it was extending well past midnight through a swirl of 10 official inaugural balls and many more unofficial galas.
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.
No presidential inauguration before was 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 U.S. 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 Mr. Obama didn't give the topic of race, his or others, much treatment in either his campaign or his inaugural, blacks poured into Washington from all over to watch firsthand as one of their own at last shattered a painful racial barrier.
"It almost leaves me speechless," said 69-year-old Tony Avelino, who traveled from Brea, Calif.
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