Fresh journey with a new President

Washington D.C. — Possibly, this is for the first time, that the larger section of people in the entire world was watching with full excitement and hope, the oath taking ceremony of President Barack Obama, as the new leader in global family with his extra-ordinary vision as well zeal in bringing more prosperity for his nation as well as brightening image of his country. There is no doubt that, the President of United States is the most important figure in today's global politics.

Ask not whether government is too big or too small but whether it works. Ask not whether the free market is a force for good or ill but whether its bounty is adequately shared.

Ask not whether the next generation will be better off than the last but whether we can throw off the shackles of stale partisanship, worn-out dogmas and narrow self-interest to do what everyone knows we must.

Such was the economic manifesto delivered by a confident new president on a cold, crisp day in January before a flag-waving throng and a country whose faith in both markets and government has been badly shaken.

It was a distillation of the message Barack Obama has been delivering since he crashed into the national consciousness with his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The reason we keep getting the wrong answers, he says, is that we keep asking the wrong questions, talking about them with the wrong language and limiting ourselves with false choices. In solving our problems, the essential first step is to redefine them. Only then will it be possible to take the final step of hammering out the grand bargains that have always been within sight but never within reach.

Barack Hussein Obama took his place as the 44th president of the United States under a bright January sky on Tuesday, defining the problems the nation now faces in unsparing terms and exhorting Americans to respond by taking greater responsibility for themselves, the country and the world.

Standing on the West Front of the Capitol as the first African American to be sworn in as president, Obama celebrated that historic achievement, noting that "a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

But the heart of Obama's first address to the nation as its president was a rejection of the policies and values of his immediate predecessors and a somber call for the return of what he called the traditional American virtues of hard work, fair play, tolerance and sacrifice for the common good.

In moments of crisis, "America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents," he said.

"So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans."

Invoking the names and values of the Founding Fathers is commonplace in presidential speeches, but in Obama's case the device seemed intended to make a larger point: The change he hopes to bring about will require even his supporters to accept things they don't want to accept, work with opponents they've long demonized and alter long-ingrained lifestyles.

Americans as a whole must adopt a new, more self-denying way of life with little room for "those who prefer leisure over work or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame," he said.

In a passage that echoed Roosevelt's first inaugural, Obama said, "Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.

"But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

If the speech was exceptionally somber and included relatively few lines designed to draw roars of approval from the enormous crowd, the day nonetheless resounded with jubilation.

More than a million people flocked to the National Mall to take part in the event, spilling outward from the gleaming white Capitol steps toward the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial more than a mile away.

Choirs sang. Some of the world's finest musicians -- including classical violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, along with soul singer Aretha Franklin -- performed. High school bands paraded. And tears streamed down faces, weathered and smooth alike, here and around the globe, as the son of a white American and a black African ascended to his place in history.

Listeners listened, mesmerized as the speech rolled across the Mall from a sound system that took two or three seconds to get to the farthest reaches of the crowd. The echo meant that the field was never quiet, even when Obama paused, as though the words of the day couldn't be contained in a single moment or place.

As is traditional, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush were whisked away by helicopter immediately after the inaugural ceremony and headed for their home state of Texas after a private farewell to staff at nearby Andrews Air Force Base.

And almost at once, the wheels of the new administration under the leadership of President Barack Obama began to turn.

Secretary of State nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton had been expected to win approval Tuesday, but Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) held that vote up for a day for further questioning about her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and his charitable foundation's foreign donors.

Others who face a more protracted process include Labor nominee Hilda L. Solis, Treasury nominee Timothy F. Geithner, attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. and Transportation nominee Ray LaHood.

Obama was quick to acknowledge that he was taking office in challenging times, both domestic and foreign, including an economic crisis as ominous as any since Franklin D. Roosevelt moved into the White House amid the Great Depression.

"Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," he said. "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

Getting out of the domestic morass, Obama said, will require a more active role for government.

Indirectly rejecting President Clinton's assertion in 1996 that the era of big government was over, Obama said, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified."

On foreign policy, Obama vowed to outlast and ultimately defeat terrorists, but he also went out of his way to extend his hand to the Muslim world.

He also declared that the United States would once more play the role of world leader: "We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet."

"The challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many," the president said. "They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America -- they will be met."

From overhead and on television, the inaugural throng on Tuesday resembled a singular human blanket sprawling over miles. Up close, what were striking were the tears, visible up and down the Mall and the parade route, dripping from the eyes of adults, children, at all points of the day. On the streets of Washington, the human blanket revealed itself to be more of a quilt of intimate subcultures. "Amen" choruses broke out around barroom televisions while the new president spoke. "Obama" chants erupted on corners and uniformed black schoolchildren sang "God Bless America" en route to the parade, or as close to the parade as they could get.

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Fresh journey with a new President

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