Second inauguration of Barack Obama

The swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural luncheon for President Obama and Vice President Biden were planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a committee composed of United States Senators Charles Schumer of New York, committee chair, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Harry Reid of Nevada, and United States Representatives John Boehner of Ohio, Eric Cantor of Virginia and Nancy Pelosi of California.[4] The committee is overseen by the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

Military support to the 57th inauguration was coordinated by Joint Task Force National Capital Region, providing musical military units, marching bands, color guards, ushers, firing details, and salute batteries.

On January 7, 2013, Louie Giglio was selected to deliver the benediction at the ceremony.[5] Giglio at first accepted, but then withdrew in response to a controversy over a mid-1990s sermon "in which he called on Christians to fight the 'aggressive agenda' of the gay-rights movement".[6] The substitution of Rev. Luis Leon, pastor of Saint John's Church near the White House, was announced on January 15.[7]

Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, delivered the invocation.

On January 8, 2013, Richard Blanco was named the inaugural poet for Barack Obama's second inauguration, the fifth person to play that role. He was the first immigrant, first Latino, first gay person, and at the time, the youngest to be inaugural poet.[8]

The 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee organized several other inauguration-related events at the direction of the President and Vice President of the United States, such as the concerts, parade, balls and prayer service. The co-chairs of the committee were former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, along with Ambassador Matthew Barzun, Eva Longoria, Jane Stetson and Frank White.[9] Other positions were held by Jim Messina, who oversaw the Inaugural parade, Stephanie Cutter, Jen O'Malley Dillon, Julianna Smoot, Rufus Gifford and Patrick Gaspard.[9]

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during the Kids' Inaugural Concert at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Second Lady Jill Biden (left) stands in the background.

On the evening of January 19, 2013, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden hosted the "Kids' Inaugural: Our Children. Our Future." event at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Katy Perry, Usher, and members of the cast of Glee honored military families in concert.[10] Other celebrity participants included Mindless Behavior, Far East Movement, and Nick Cannon, who served as emcee for the event.[10] In keeping with the service theme of the day, Michelle Obama issued a call for children to become engaged in public service by volunteering in homeless shelters, visiting seniors, or writing letters to U.S. troops.[11]

Since 1937, the four-year term of the president and vice president have ended and begun at noon on January 20, as prescribed by the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because January 20, 2013, fell on a Sunday, both Obama and Biden were officially sworn in privately, and then again the following day in a public ceremony. This was the fifth time, since the start of Rutherford B. Hayes's term in office, in 1877, that the oath of office was officially administered in a Sunday private ceremony.[12] Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to the President on January 20 in the Blue Room at the White House. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath to the Vice President on the same date at Number One Observatory Circle, the official residence of the vice president.[13] While reciting his oath, Biden's hand rested upon a Bible that had been in his family since 1893 and which he had used in every swearing-in ceremony since entering the U.S. Senate in 1973.[14] Obama used a Bible owned by the family of First Lady Michelle Obama when he took his oath of office.[14]

This was only the third time in history that a vice president was sworn in outside of the Capitol grounds, after William King's in Matanzas, Cuba in 1853, and Harry Truman at the White House in 1945.

The public inaugural ceremony took place at the West Front of the United States Capitol on January 21, 2013.[15] The ceremony opened with the playing of pre‑recorded music and a live performance of the Fifth-grade chorus from Public School 22,[15] followed by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band.[15] Senator Charles Schumer, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, acted as the day's Master of Ceremonies.[15] Courtney Williams, Senior Chief Musician and concert moderator for the U.S. Navy Concert Band, served as the platform announcer.[16]

Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil-rights leader Medgar Evers, delivered the invocation,[15] followed by a performance of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.[15] Vice President Biden took his oath from Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.[15] After completing his oath of office as the vice president, Biden received in his honor the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes and the march "Hail, Columbia" by members of the armed forces.[17] This was followed by a performance of "America the Beautiful" by James Taylor.[15]

After the performance of "America the Beautiful", Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Obama.[15] After he had completed the oath of office as the president, Obama received in his honor the 21-gun salute and the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes and the march "Hail to the Chief" by members of the armed forces.[17] Following the salute, Obama delivered his inaugural address to the crowds as the president of the United States at 11:53 AM Eastern Time, which was 2,137 words long and took 18.5 minutes to deliver. This was followed by a performance by vocalist Kelly Clarkson, who sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee".[15] Poet Richard Blanco then delivered the inaugural poem,[15] followed by Rev. Luis Leon, who delivered the benediction.[15] Vocalist Beyoncé concluded the ceremony with a performance of the United States national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".[15]

During the public inaugural ceremony at the United States Capitol on January 21, Associate Justice Sotomayor administered the oath to Vice President Joe Biden, and then Chief Justice Roberts administered the Presidential oath to President Barack Obama minutes after Vice President Biden received his oath.[18][19] At the public inaugural ceremony, Vice President Biden was sworn in using the Biden family Bible, while President Obama was sworn in using two Bibles owned by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. President Obama became the 17th U.S. president to be re-elected for a second term of office.[14]

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Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address

After Barack Obama had recited the oath of office, he delivered his inaugural address.[20] The inaugural address had a length of 2,137 words and President Obama took 18.5 minutes to deliver it between 11:53 a.m. and 12:12 p.m.[21] In a speech "heavy on broad rhetoric and light on policy specifics" as noted by the Washington Post[21] Obama's second inaugural speech was regarded as laying out a broad liberal or progressive agenda, supporting gay rights and climate change reform. Obama, who "largely eschewed foreign policy except to recommend engagement over war, and instead focused on addressing poverty and injustice at home",[22] delved in broad strokes into the United States past and its future as he called on ordinary Americans to "shape the debates of our time."[21] Rejecting the belief that in America "freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few"[23] and arguing that "preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action"[22] Obama said "now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act."[22][23]

Barack Obama used the opening words of the U.S. Constitution's preamble, "We, the people", to suggest how to reconcile America's founding truths and the current discord and dysfunction of its embittered political system.[24] He also referenced America's Declaration of Independence stating that our inalienable rights, such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, may be self-evident, but never have been self-executing.[25] Obama again invoked the Declaration of Independence by telling his audience: "What makes us exceptional, what makes us America, is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."[26]

Obama went on, saying "all of us are created equal" and that the shared equality of the American people guided the United States "through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall"—linking the Seneca Falls Convention, Selma to Montgomery marches and Stonewall riots as key moments in women's rights activism, the civil rights movement, and the LGBT rights movement in the United States together.[22][25][27][28][29]

Obama talks with Biden during the inaugural swearing-in ceremony.

Additional words indicated a commitment to LGBT rights: "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." These words made Obama the first president to use the word gay as a reference to sexual orientation in an inaugural address.[22][28][30] Some analysts interpreted his statement as a reaffirmation of President Obama's previously stated support for same-sex marriage.[31] Others noted that all nine justices of the Supreme Court were seated nearby when Obama linked gay and lesbian rights to two other groups whom the court treats with special consideration: women and racial minorities.[32]

President Obama also spoke firmly about climate change, immigration reform, and gun control, and argued that they represented important issues for this generation to solve.[25] Noting that "none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms"[33] Obama stated that his administration "will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations."[21] He also argued that America must lead in this area: "The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must claim its promise."[34] "That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God."[30]

Obama commented on the role of government that "Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time — but it does require us to act in our time."[35] And he added while the American people never gave up their skepticism of a strong federal government, they also never believed that the government can fix all ills.[35] In order to prepare America for a rapidly changing world he stressed the need for the political leaders of America to act in common cause. The president argued that "now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay."[25] Obama also made what appeared to be an oblique reference to the partisan battles between himself, the Republican-controlled House and the Senate — where Democrats had control but not a filibuster-proof majority. In reference to the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness Obama declared in the context of the partisan battles that "[b]eing true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness."[36] Obama said that the politically gridlocked capital — and, implicitly, the Republicans who have fought his ideas during the 2012 U.S. presidential election[36][37][38] — was moving too slowly at a critical moment. "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said. "We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect."[33] Obama added that "the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction — and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service."[36]

The president also addressed the issue of wealth inequality in the United States noting that America "cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well, and a growing many barely make it."[25] "We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own," he declared.[30] Obama spoke of the need to reduce America's health care costs and America's deficit, but he repudiated that America must choose between "caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future."[39] "The commitments we make to each other — through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security — these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us," Obama said. "They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."[23]

While praising U.S. Armed Forces members for their bravery and strength, Obama asserted that "enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war."[23] This statement was made in the foreign policy section of his inaugural address in which Obama promised diplomacy of engagement backed with military steel, but he did not dwell on specific crises like Iran.[24] "We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully - not because we are naive about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear."[24] He also declared the United States "must be a source of hope for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice ..." and stand for "human dignity and justice."[40] Barack Obama also challenged those who favor aggressive use of the powerful U.S. military, calling them to remember the policies of presidents past. "We are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well," said Obama.[34] Obama vowed America "will remain the anchor of strong alliances" and it will support democracy around the world.[40]

The inaugural address made at several points references to famous speeches of America's former leaders. Barack Obama referenced Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech by noting that "we cannot walk alone."[41] Obama also made several references to past presidential inaugurations. He referenced the country's civil war experience and its slavery history with allusions to phrases used by Abraham Lincoln: "Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free."[41] This was an allusion to "until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword" from Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration address.[41] The inaugural address of John F. Kennedy was also referenced. Obama's "this generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience" and later description of "brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle" was an allusion to Kennedy's line of a "new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace."[41] Obama's assertion that America is willing to negotiate with its adversaries "not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear" was reminiscent of Kennedy's words that "civility is not a sign of weakness ... Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."[41]

Barack Obama described the American state of affairs with references to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the 2007–2009 recession in the United States as follows: "This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America's possibilities are limitless."[20] Obama then added a collective call to action: "My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it - so long as we seize it together."[20] Noting that "Decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay" Obama stressed the need of shielding the weak, the poor and those lacking health care and demanded equality for all races and gay rights, and security from gun crime for children.[24] In the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza stated in this context that Obama's overall inaugural message was "That we are all in this together and that we will ultimately be judged by how we treat the lowest among us." Cillizza pointed to five sentences of Obama's speech which contained not only Obama's agenda for his second term but also "outlined what he wanted his second term to be—and to mean":[42]

It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.

Blanco reading his poem One Today

Richard Blanco read a poem he wrote for the occasion, One Today.[43] One critic called it "a rare break from the staid custom of ceremony that the rest of the afternoon brought" and another described it as "art meant to orient, to reconfirm collective identity in a time of recent tragedy. ... an optimistic, careful piece meant to encourage, a balm."[44]

At the conclusion of his inaugural address, Obama walked back into the Capitol building, then turned for a moment to look out at the National Mall, filled with hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Americans. He said to those close to him: "I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again."[45] Shortly afterward, he signed the Capitol's guest book.

Then, in the President's Room of the U.S. Capitol, with the bipartisan congressional leadership looking on, Obama signed documents submitting the nominations of his nominees for several Cabinet posts, the secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury and the head of the CIA.[30]

Obama then dined on bison and lobster with select members of Congress and guests in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall before returning to the White House in the inaugural parade.[24]

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walking in the inaugural parade following the public inauguration at the United States Capitol building.

The inaugural parade route ran along Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. from the U.S. Capitol, ending at the north face of the White House. During most of the parade, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama traveled in the armored limousine. The President and First Lady exited their limousine, walking on Pennsylvania Avenue for portions of the parade.[46] Vice President Biden, and his wife Jill, also walked the parade route.[47]

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during one of the inaugural balls.

In a departure from the number of evening balls for the first Obama inauguration, only two official inaugural balls were held to on January 21 celebrate the second inauguration. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended the Commander-In-Chief's Ball held for members of the U.S. military and attended the Inaugural Ball, an invitation-only public gala held as a unified celebration for all Americans. Both inaugural balls were held on January 21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.[48] Jennifer Hudson serenaded the Obamas as they danced to Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" during both the Commander-in-Chief's Ball and the Inaugural Ball. Other performers who were scheduled to perform at the inaugural balls included Usher, Alicia Keys, Black Violin, Brad Paisley, Far East Movement, Fun, members of the Glee cast, John Legend, Maná, Smokey Robinson, Soundgarden, and Stevie Wonder.[49]

On January 22, a private staff-only inaugural ball was held for White House aides and administration staff, Obama for America campaign staff, and the Inaugural Committee staff, was held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, a tradition started by the President and First Lady during the 2009 inauguration to express thanks for the work of the staff. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett provided entertainment for the group.[50]

President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama led the group in the chant, "fired up, ready to go" that was carried over from the 2008 and 2012 election campaigns. President Obama expressed gratitude and honored the aides and campaign staff for their work, telling the group that "'it makes [him] know that America's future is in good hands' ... 'as long as all of you understand the immense and incredible power that you possess when you work together, when you join voices.'"[50][51][52]

During the staff inaugural ball, President Obama also paid tribute to Alex Okrent, a 29-year-old campaign staffer who died after collapsing at the 2012 Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago. Proceeds from ticket sales for the staff inaugural ball, where tickets sold at $10.00 apiece, were used to support a memorial fund for Okrent.[50][52]

President Obama and Vice President Biden and their wives in the front pew at the Washington National Cathedral on January 22, 2013

President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, gathered at the Washington National Cathedral on January 22, 2013, for a national day of prayer.[53] The prayer service was attended by dignitaries and guests of diverse faiths for a day of prayers, readings, and musical performances. As in the case of the prayer service for the 2009 inauguration, the theme of the interfaith worship service reflected inclusiveness and religious diversity, ranging from a mix of Protestant pastors, female Rabbi, Hindu, and Muslim religious leaders to Catholic and Episcopal bishops. Featured speakers at the prayer service included religious leaders from the National African American Clergy Network, Islamic Society of North America, in addition to the Metropolitan Community Churches that served as a spiritual refuge and place of worship for gay Christians.[53][54][55]