WASHINGTON, Jan 20: Barack Hussein Obama officially began his second term as the 44th US President on Sunday, taking the oath of office in a low-key ceremony at the White House.
The entire oath ceremony lasted about one minute. Chief Justice John G. Roberts led the president in reciting the oath, including the president’s full name “Barack Hussein Obama”.
Two men recited the oath carefully and resolutely without any hint of trouble. The two had fumbled over the 35-word oath four years ago.
With Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha standing behind him, Mr Obama quickly repeated the oath from Chief Justice Roberts, who this time carried a note card.
The president then kissed his wife, whom he called “Sweetie,” and told his daughters, “I did it.”
Mr Obama took the oath on a Bible that Michelle Obama’s father Fraser Robinson III had given to his mother on Mother’s Day 1958.
At the end of the oath, Justice Roberts said “Congratulations, Mr President”, Mr Obama said “Thank you, Chief Justice. Thank you so much.”
The two men seemed warm, but formal, with no hint of animosity between a Democrat president and a Republican chief justice, which the US media claimed was evident in 2009.
As the oath finished, President Obama said “All right, thank you everybody” and exited.
President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts will repeat the oath again on Monday in a public ceremony at the Capitol. The Constitution mandates that presidential terms begin on Jan 20, but when the day falls on a Sunday, the public ceremony takes place the following day.
Mr Obama’s two oath-takings this year matches his inauguration in 2009 when due to a verbal flub by Chief Justice Roberts, the president took the oath again later with Mr Roberts at the White House, to ensure the oath’s validity.
Mr Obama’s four oaths match the record set by Franklin Roosevelt — though Mr Roosevelt took one oath for each of his four inaugurations.
Vice President Biden took his oath earlier in the morning at his residence from Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She became the fourth woman and the first Hispanic to administer the oath to the president or vice president.
This year is the seventh Sunday-Monday inauguration; the last time this happened was in 1985 for Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration.
Mr Obama’s second oath-taking also coincided with the Martin Luther King’s day. Earlier Sunday, Mr Obama and Mr Biden laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Then, Mr Obama and his family attended church indowntown Washington at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The latest public opinion survey by the NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll shows that President Obama begins his second term with low expectations.
Fifty-two per cent of American adults approve of Mr Obama’s overall job performance, while a slightly smaller 49pc also endorse his handling of the economy.
But there’s solid support for two of the top items on Mr Obama’s early agenda: stricter gun control measures and reform of the immigration system to provide a path to citizenship to some long-time illegal immigrants to the US.
But pollsters found a split in opinion on how Mr Obama will fare in his second term — 51pc say they are ‘optimistic’ or ‘satisfied’ and 48pc are ‘uncertain’ or ‘pessimistic’.
Only 43pc are optimistic about the next four years, while 35pc are pessimistic; 22pc have a mixed opinion.
Four years ago, at Mr Obama’s inauguration as America’s first black president, expectations were sky high and there’s outright joy among his supporters.
This year, more than seven in 10 are dissatisfied with the current state of the economy, and just more than a third are either ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ confident in Mr Obama’s ability to promote a strong and growing economy.
And 60pc believe they better hold back and save money in the coming years because harder times are ahead.