Obama takes oath as 44th US president
01/21/2009 | 01:05 AM
MANILA, Philippines – Barack Hussein Obama, the first African American president of the United States, took his oath of office shortly after noon Tuesday (1 a.m. on Wednesday in the Philippines), his hand on the same Bible used 147 years earlier by Abraham Lincoln, the president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 that freed all the black slaves in the US.
The historic event is being covered live by Jessica Soho, Jiggy Manicad, and Raffy Tima by GMA in a program title "Barack Obama: The Inauguration," anchored in the Philppines by Arnold Clavio and Vicky Morales.
Vice President Joseph Biden first took his oath before Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, to the applause a crowd estimated to be more than 2 million, tightly packed all around the US Capitol buidling in Washington, DC.
A brief intermission followed during which a John Williams composition was performed by violinist Itzhak Perlaman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Gabriela Montero, and clarinetist Anthony McGill.
Then Obama took his oath, just a few minutes after noon, before US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, officially becoming the 44th president of the most powerful nation in the world.
Obama then delivered his very first address as the top US leader, revolving around of the theme "A new birth of freedom."
Obama is a writer, whose skill with the written word was what got him noticed as a senator.
"The world is watching today," was how Sen. Diane Feinstein, chief of the Senate committee handling the inauguration, opened her remarks before the invocation and the oath-taking.
Feinstein hailed the event as proof of "the supremacy of the ballot over the bullet."
The invocation by Pastor Rick Warren, author of "Purpose-Driven Life." Warren referred to the event as a triumph of a fight started by civil liberties leaders of the past, notably Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in 1968.
But more than the election of an African American president, Warren said the event underscores the fact that Americans are "united not by race, religion, or blood but by our commitment to freedom and justice for all."
Soul artist Aretha Franklin then sang "Our Country 'Tis of Thee." - GMANews.TV
The historic event is being covered live by Jessica Soho, Jiggy Manicad, and Raffy Tima by GMA in a program title "Barack Obama: The Inauguration," anchored in the Philppines by Arnold Clavio and Vicky Morales.
Vice President Joseph Biden first took his oath before Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, to the applause a crowd estimated to be more than 2 million, tightly packed all around the US Capitol buidling in Washington, DC.
A brief intermission followed during which a John Williams composition was performed by violinist Itzhak Perlaman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Gabriela Montero, and clarinetist Anthony McGill.
Then Obama took his oath, just a few minutes after noon, before US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, officially becoming the 44th president of the most powerful nation in the world.
Obama then delivered his very first address as the top US leader, revolving around of the theme "A new birth of freedom."
Obama is a writer, whose skill with the written word was what got him noticed as a senator.
"The world is watching today," was how Sen. Diane Feinstein, chief of the Senate committee handling the inauguration, opened her remarks before the invocation and the oath-taking.
Feinstein hailed the event as proof of "the supremacy of the ballot over the bullet."
The invocation by Pastor Rick Warren, author of "Purpose-Driven Life." Warren referred to the event as a triumph of a fight started by civil liberties leaders of the past, notably Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in 1968.
But more than the election of an African American president, Warren said the event underscores the fact that Americans are "united not by race, religion, or blood but by our commitment to freedom and justice for all."
Soul artist Aretha Franklin then sang "Our Country 'Tis of Thee." - GMANews.TV
