President Obama
Barack Hussain Obama
"I, Barack Hussain Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President of the United States faithfully and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help me God", said Obama, the 44th US president, sparking a massive roar from the crowd.
November 4, 2008, Barack Obama finally overpowers Senator John McCain to emerge as the President Elect of the United States. Obama comes out first 53% of the popular vote as well as 365 Electoral Votes.
Obama was Sworn in
The hundreds of thousands who poured into the streets of Washington DC on Jan 20, with songs of joy and whoops of cheer bowed the significant ascension of Barack Obama as President of United States in to American Carnival in the noblest sense of the terms.
Millions of foreigners also tuned into see the son of a black Kenyan father and white American mother take office, in a generational power shift that will see Obama accede to economic blight and challenges to US power abroad.
Obama was sworn in during a time privileged ceremony in front of a massive flag-waving crowd predictable at more than a million people on Washington's National Mall. In the distance was the Lincoln Memorial, which Obama saw as he gazed out transversely the crowds to give his inaugural address, devoted to the revered president who ended slavery and placed the foundation for Obama's presidency.
Pope sends his Blessings
Pope Benedict XVI is giving Barack Obama his blessings and prayers as the American became President. The Vatican released the text of a telegram Benedict sent Barack Obama a few hours before the presidential swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday the Jan 20th.
In the Telegram, the Pope told Obama he was praying that God would grant him dependable wisdom and strength in carrying out his errands. Benedict also urged Obama to stick to his resolve in promoting understanding and peace among peoples.
The pontiff also articulated hope Obama's leadership would help Americans use ethical principles and spiritual values in building a just society.
Indians say Obama can
As Barack Obama was sworn-in as the 44th president of United States, a new 17 nation poll exposed that as many as 63% of Indians see United States relationship with the rest of the world increasing under Obama's Presidency.
The 17 nation poll conducted for the BBC World Service, a media release said, finds wide spread and growing hopefulness that Obama's administration will lead to enhanced relations between the US and the rest of the world. The poll also shows people around the world are looking to Obama to put highest precedence on dealing with the current global financial crisis.
Although Indians have the same opinion with most people in other parts of the world that the US should make dealing with the global financial crisis a top-priority, the number holding this view is less than one-half. According to the poll, Indians believe the US should put importance on dealing with the global financial emergency and improving United State's relationship with India.
Obama is biggest assassination target
Barack Obama, who took office as America's first black President on Tuesday, is the biggest-ever assassination target in United States history, a media report said on Tuesday. 47 year old Obama has taken on the most significant job in the world that is to save the global economy from meltdown-but it is also the most risky, and he knows that there are radicals who want him dead, the DAILY STAR reported.
White supremacists have swear to kill him and the CIA superiors are taking no odds by throwing a ring of steel around his inauguration. In fact, they turned Washington DC into impenetrable fortress for the historic ceremony. The Us capital was guarded by 45,000 soldiers, police, secret agents and national guards-all there to make sure the he did not meet the same fate as assassinated 1960s president John F. Kennedy.
Jet fighters were also on reserve for the sophisticated ceremony. Obama was also be protected behind bullet proof glass and rode in a bomb-proof limo with the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and Al-Qaida all gunning for him, according to the news report..
Lessons in Grace.
The open eagerness and hopefulness with which the people of the US celebrated their democracy and welcomed their selected leader can be catching. For an epiphamic moment, one gets a glimpse of what Lincoln had possibly predestined by his memorable reference to the "Government of the people, by the people and for the people". The world may not agree with US and Americans at all times and on all issues, but in almost no other major country does see the victor recognize his laurels with such grace. There is much to learn, for people all over the world, from the way Americans come together as one people at moments of great sadness or great joy, and the way the embrace change with open arms. After the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001, the world had said, in grief and shock, that "we are all Americans now."
Now once again, as a successor of former slaves takes over the reins of the most powerful country on earth, to the cheers of a United and hopeful, populace, the whole world can join in the celebration.
Some of the Sidelights
*President Barack Obama has selected a leading Indian-American lawyer Preeta Bansal as General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House. The declaration was an indication of how quickly he wants to get on with the business of undertaking the economic crisis.
*Reflecting the huge respect he has for his statue Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama will replicate on his special luncheon menu the food served to the civil war era US President after his inauguration in 1861. Lincoln preferential simple food including root, vegetables and wild game, with time he became fond of stewed and scalloped oysters. For dessert or a snack, nothing pleased him more than a fresh apple or an apple cake.
*Obama's inauguration comes with a heavy price tag, estimated at more than $170 million, according to a media report. But there are plenty of rich donor's willing to pick up the tab ABC News said Tuesday.
President to rescind abortion refusal rule.
The administration of US President Barack Obama moved to rescind a rule that would allow healthcare workers to deny medical care such as birth control or abortion to patients if it clashes with their morals.
The department of health and human services (DHHS) filed a proposal to "rescind in its entirety" the so-called refusal or conscience rule, which was pushed through by former President George W. Bush on December 18, a month before Mr. Obama took office.
Obama has Highest Approval in 29 Years.
Us President Barack Obama, who is approaching his first 100 days in office, is enjoying the best Presidential job approval rating at this point in 20 years, a new opinion survey showed. The poll, by ABC News and the Washington Post, indicated 69 per cent of Americans approve of the job he is doing, which is the highest evaluation in about two decades. But the president faces a partisan divide. While 93 per cent of Democrats' approve of his activities, only 36 per cent of Republicans do so, the poll showed 54 per cent say Obama's doing a better job than they expected, far above former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at their 100 day mark. They got a 39 per cent and 35 per cent better than expected rating, respectively. Sixty three percent say Mr. Obama has accomplished a great deal of good amount in his first three months, according to the survey. Just 37 per cent said that about Mr. Clinton.
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