Obama takes oath for second term

Washington,Jan 20: A still-popular Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office for a second term on Sunday, facing a troubled future but hoping to leave behind a battering four years at the helm of a government mired in ugly political division. When Mr. Obama first took office as the 44th U.S. President, many Americans hoped the symbolism of the first African-American in the White House was a turning point in the country's deeply troubled racial history. Mr. Obama vowed to moderate the partisan anger engulfing the country, but the nation is only more divided four years later, perhaps as deeply as at any time since the U.S. Civil War 150 years ago.Mr. Obama was sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts during a brief ceremony with his family in the White House Blue Room, meeting the legal requirement that presidents officially take office on January 20. Because that date fell on a Sunday this year, the traditional ceremonies surrounding the start of a president's term were put off to Monday, which coincides this year with the birthday of revered civil rights leader Martin Luther King. He was assassinated in 1968.Mr. Obama made no special remarks at Sunday's ceremony, surrounded by portraits of former White House residents. He responded to a remark from one of his daughters, saying, “I did it.” Out the south-facing windows was a view of the towering memorial to George Washington, the country's first president.On Monday, he will repeat the oath and give his inaugural speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol before hundreds of thousands of people. He then makes the traditional journey, part of it on foot, down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Fancy dress balls, fewer than in 2009, consume the evening hours.