Presidential Inauguration: Barack Obama to be sworn in for second term

After claiming victory in November's presidential election, President Barack Obama is due to be sworn in today to start his second term as the most powerful person in the world. Follow live updates on the event below.

THIS LIVE BLOG IS NOW CLOSED

The timetable for the event is as follows:
- Parties depart White House for Capitol building
- Biden and Obama families announced and seated
- Vice President Biden sworn in
- James Taylor sings America the Beautiful
- President Obama sworn in
- Inaugural Address by the president
- Beyonce sings the National Anthem
- Obama takes part in procession along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House

by The Independent edited by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 6:41:13 PM

Who's absent from the inaugural ceremonies?
21 Jan. 11:32 a.m. EST

by Kellen Henry 11:31 AM
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki will not attend the ceremonies at the Capitol for security reasons. He would be the successor to head the government should catastrophe strike at the Capitol.

The absence of a Cabinet secretary maintained a long-standing tradition that one member not attend the inaugural ceremonies.

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 4:33:20 PM
'Everything is going swimmingly so far in the four-day bash that is Barack Obama’s second inauguration as President of the United States, or POTUS to the Secret Service and the White House correspondents who must keep tabs on him.'

Read the full piece by David Usborne here.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:35:17 PM
The moment, and the president, has arrived
21 Jan. 11:35 a.m. EST
President Barack Obama arrives at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
by ccarlson 11:33 AM
President Barack Obama is on the podium, greeting supporters and colleagues, and ready to be
inaugurated for his second term _ or, at least, "inaugurated," since the official ceremony was conducted Sunday indoors. Today's ceremony is the public version.

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 4:36:32 PM
In 2009 more than 1.8 million people turned up in Washington to watch Obama's first inauguration.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:38:30 PM
#Obama is probably the most effective and successful President, domestically at least, since #FDR. My Standard column: http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/amol-rajan-a-great-president-who-can-transform-america-8459738.html

by amol rajan via twitter 1/21/2013 4:40:10 PM
Quotable
21 Jan. 11:42 a.m. EST

by Kellen Henry 11:42 AM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 4:43:21 PM
Here with a little more detail on the FLOTUS outfit this morning. The belt and gloves she is wearing are from J.Crew and her earrings are designed by Cathy Waterman. She is also wearing Reed Krakoff boots. At the end of the Inaugural festivities, the outfit and accompanying accessories will go to the National Archives.
-- David Usborne

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:44:08 PM
Obama a strategist, not a tactician: by getting two boring pre-speakers in ahead of him, clearly he's playing the long game here. #inaugural

by amol rajan via twitter 1/21/2013 4:45:02 PM
Joe Biden has just done the business at #inaug2013. Next up Barack.

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 4:48:14 PM
Vice-President Joe Biden has been sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:48:47 PM
Last saw James Taylor perform in the pouring rain in Charlotte for Dems convention. Now he is serenading #inaug2013 Mall crowd and the pres

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 4:50:08 PM
Have a feeling they are running slightly ahead of schedule - Barack Obama is taking teh oath right now

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 4:50:59 PM
BREAKING: Biden takes oath for 2nd term
21 Jan. 11:49 a.m. EST

Vice President Joe Biden takes oath for second term in office

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 4:51:06 PM
BREAKING: Obama takes oath for 2nd term
21 Jan. 11:51 EST

President Obama takes takes ceremonial oath of office, heralding second term as president.

by kmahabir edited by Jaime Holguin 1/21/2013 4:51:55 PM
Obama has been sworn in for his second term.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:52:25 PM
The speech: Don't expect a partisan pitch
21 Jan. 11:53 a.m EST

AP National Political Editor Liz Sidoti's pre-speech take on the inaugural:

President Barack Obama will be in his element when he steps to the podium to deliver his second inaugural address. He plans to lay out a broad vision for the country's future. These speeches are traditionally heavier on prose than on policy, and devoid of many details. And Obama is expected to keep with that formula, focusing on America's founding values and their importance to the country of today.

Don't expect a partisan pitch. But make no mistake: this speech — like so many others before it — will be political, to a certain degree.

The president will be speaking to an America whose citizens are divided, and who fear their nation is in a perpetual — if not irreversible — state of decline. He will be speaking at a time of political paralysis, deep polarization and a resounding lack of faith in the institution of government. And he will be speaking at the start of a period in which he hopes to tackle a slew of thorny issues — taxes, guns, immigration and other issues — even as Republicans control the House.

So, expect Obama to do what he's been known for since he burst onto the national stage — pepper his remarks with strong notes of resolve and the notion of a can-do America.
President Barack Obama, followed by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, arrives on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, for his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony during the 57th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Win McNamee, Pool)
by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:44 AM

With the country's grim backdrop and knowing what we know about Obama, it's hard to see how the president doesn't take advantage of the platform he has to issue an urgent call to action for Americans and their political leaders to come together to try to break Washington's gridlock and solve the country's big looming problems.

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 4:53:47 PM
Tweet
21 Jan. 11:57 a.m. EST
Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. —President ObamaBarack Obamavia twitter on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:57 AM

by kmahabir edited by Jaime Holguin 1/21/2013 4:58:17 PM
This generation has been 'tested' - Barack Obama

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 4:59:24 PM
My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together - Obama #inaug2013

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 4:59:31 PM
Biden takes the oath, perhaps not for the last time?
21 Jan. Noon EST
President Barack Obama, center and Beau Biden, Attorney of Deleware, right, watch as his father Joe Biden is sworn in at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:56 AM

The nation's No. 2 was sworn in a second time, for a second term.

Like President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden took his oath of office during a private ceremony on Sunday. This one was for the masses.

Biden, a former Delaware senator, has attended a bunch of inaugural festivities.

The next one he attends may be his own if he decides to run for president in 2016 _ and wins. He's certainly keeping the door open to a future presidential run.

Liz Sidoti, AP National Political Editor

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:01:28 PM
OBAMA don't gut social programmes Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – . They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 5:02:58 PM
OBAMA: We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 5:04:23 PM
President Obama takes the oath
21 Jan. 12:04 p.m. EST

Obama takes oath
by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:01 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:05:20 PM
multilateral Obama:America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 5:06:06 PM
Quotable
21 Jan. 12:06 p.m. EST

by Kellen Henry 12:06 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:07:41 PM
It’s a big day for the President, so you might expect his cabinet to have turned out en masse for the inauguration. But you’d be wrong. Obama’s Veteran Affairs Secretary, Eric Shinseki, is deliberately absent. He is “the designated survivor” during the celebrations, the senior member of the government left behind when the President and other political leaders all gather in one place, according to the Washington Post. The tradition, meant to safeguard against the possibility of catastrophe at the site of big political gatherings, reportedly goes back at least 50 years.
-- Nikhil Kumar

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:07:45 PM
Obama gets cheer: Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. #ianug2013

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 5:07:50 PM
Obama's speech began with look back
21 Jan. 12:09 p.m. EST
President Barack Obama speaks during the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S.
Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan.
21, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
by ccarlson on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:03 PM
President Barack Obama began his second inaugural address with a lot of quotations from
— and invocations of — the nation's founding documents. It was an interesting approach, one keyed to a dominant question in the national conversation these days: Where is this republic headed, and is it the right direction? Obama began by re-invoking the foundational principles of the republic — and asking people to hear him

Ted Anthony, AP editor-at-large

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:10:09 PM
President Obama's 2nd inaugural speech
21 Jan. 12:12 p.m. EST

Obama speech
by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:09 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:12:32 PM
The

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:12:57 PM
Quotable
21 Jan. 12:13 p.m. EST

by Kellen Henryon Jan 21, 2013 at 5:12 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:13:54 PM
Tweet
21 Jan. 12:14 p.m. EST

Some words not included in Obama's prepared remarks:Guns. Republican. Partisan. Debt (tho there is one reference to the "deficit")cbabingtonvia twitter on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:12 PM

- Charles Babington covers Congress and politics for The Associated Press.

by kmahabir edited by Jaime Holguin 1/21/2013 5:14:40 PM
Click here to read the full transcript of Obama's speech.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:15:26 PM
Quotable
21 Jan. 12:18 p.m. EST

by Kellen Henry 12:16 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:18:35 PM
Poet Richard Blanco is the first Hispanic and openly gay American to deliver the inauguration poem.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:22:51 PM
President Obama's 2nd inaugural speech
21 Jan. 12:23 p.m. EST

by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:20 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:23:32 PM
Invoking civil rights, "the star that guides us"
21 Jan. 12:24 p.m. EST

President Barack Obama emphasized three prongs of civil rights, declaring, "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still."

He went further, with direct mentions of equality regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation. He referenced both Selma and Stonewall — landmark events for black and gay Americans, respectively — and talked of our country finally seeing its wives and mothers earning an "equal living" for the work that they do.

"It is our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began," he said on this day, which is also Martin Luther King Day in the United States.

Liz Sidoti, AP National Politics Editor
Joe Morton of New Orleans with Obama hat and scarf. AP Photo/Caleb Jones
by ccarlson on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:06 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:25:27 PM
Blanco is also the youngest person to be chosen as the inaugural poet.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:26:30 PM
Inaugural poet Richard Blanco: A first in many ways
21 Jan. 12:26 p.m. EST
Personally selected by President Barack Obama, 44-year-old Blanco is the youngest-ever inaugural poet. He's also the first Hispanic or gay to recite a poem at the ceremony. Blanco, whose work explores his experience as a Cuban-American gay man, joins a select group of just five poets that includes Maya Angelou and the late Robert Frost. Below, a slideshow of inaugural poets:

Richard Blanco. Blanco, 44, the son of Cuban exiles, and the 2013 inaugural poet,. (AP Photo/Nikki Moustaki, University of Pittsburgh Press)
by kmahabir on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:27 AM
Elizabeth Alexander as she recites a poem during swearing-in ceremonies for President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, FILE)
by kmahabir on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:50 AM
Maya Angelou recites her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning," written for the inaugural, during the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 1993. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
by kmahabir on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Poet Miller Williams, who read "Of Hope and History" at Clinton's second inauguration. (AP Photo/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Dan Hale)
by kmahabir on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:58 AM
President John F. Kennedy and poet Robert Frost, who delivered one of his own works at Kennedy's inauguration, chat at the White House. (AP Photo)
by kmahabir on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:54 AM
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by kmahabir edited by Jaime Holguin 1/21/2013 5:27:07 PM
Is this the most important moment of the day? Byonce sings the national anthem right now. #inaug2013

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 5:29:00 PM
Beyonce gets the biggest cheers so far today.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:30:21 PM
A tight edit for Obama's speech
by Kellen Henry on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:23 AM
21 Jan. 12:33 p.m. EST
President Barack Obama's speech clocked in at 18 minutes — a relatively tight and short inaugural address.

by kmahabir edited by Jaime Holguin 1/21/2013 5:34:14 PM
Second inaugural addresses: fraught with difficulty and rarely memorable by Nikhil Kumar. Click here to read the full piece.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:37:05 PM
When the crowd has gotta go
21 Jan. 12:37 p.m. EST

Time for the all-important porta-potty report: There are lots and lots of them, up and down each side of the Mall, which means it takes a lot more time to get a cup of coffee then it does, well, to no longer have one.

_Richard Lardner, AP reporter covering foreign affairs and defense on Capitol Hill

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:39:05 PM
The inauguration is brought to a close with Beyonce's rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:40:09 PM
Video of Obama taking public oath of office
21 Jan. 12:41 p.m. EST

Placing his hand on two Bibles, one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his first Inauguration and one used by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Barack Obama took a public oath of office.
by Jaime Holguin on Jan 21, 2013 at 12:34 PM

by kmahabir 1/21/2013 5:42:50 PM
Beyonce’s look for the Inauguration performance of the national anthem was pure Old Hollywood glamour: a floor-length black gown by Emilio Pucci’s Peter Dundas, inlaid with an art nouveau pattern and worn with a Christian Dior black fur coat. Not only that, but she accessorised it all with Jay-Z, the closest thing Obama’s Cool Americana has to a matinee idol. We can only wonder what Knowles’s bad girl counterpart Sasha Fierce might have worn for the occasion, but the singer blinged up her classically elegant look with a scattering of chunky emerald jewels from Lorraine Schwartz, and struck the perfect tone with all-American golden bouncing curls.
-- Harriet Walker

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 5:45:07 PM
Obama's second inaugural address in full

by Neela Debnath 1/21/2013 6:33:10 PM
It took hours to fill the Mall with an estimated 700,000 people to watch Obama take the oath, but minutes for it to empty. Next up: parade

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 6:43:28 PM
I've been looking for Mitt everywhere in Washington this morning...appparently, he is not here. Last loser not to show up: Dukakis in 1989

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 7:28:29 PM
BO gracious at lunch: 'There is controversy about the quality of the president, there is no controversy about the quality of the first lady'

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 7:46:10 PM
Slow going as Barack and Michelle start the parade enclosed in the Beast #inaug2013

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 8:30:04 PM
Barack and Michelle are now out of the Beast and walking. This is when the Secret Service have kittens. #inaug2013

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 8:48:14 PM
If #inauguration is boring you imagine if it had been Mittens' day. More fun or tragic?

by David Usborne via twitter 1/21/2013 9:58:45 PM

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