A New Beginning - Barack Hussein Obama
Becomes the 44th President
Just minutes after taking the oath of office, President
Barack Obama promised to ask “not whether our government is too
big or too small, but whether it works,” a statement that reflected
the pragmatic tone present throughout the rest of the speech. Our new
President acknowledged common fears and anxieties about the current
economic situation, and sought to remind the American people that,
despite the apparent hopelessness of the current state of affairs,
previous generations have survived situations either equally bad or
worse without compromising their ideals.
Through his comparisons to
George Washington and calls for American renewal, Mr. Obama set the
stage for a fresh approach to governance and a repudiation of the policies
of last eight years. The speech focused on the pressing need to rebuilding
both the economy and America’s tattered world image; the President
made clear that the new administration would end the practices that
have left this image in tatters while rebuking the idea that only by
abandoning the high road can we survive the threats of the modern world.
More than anything, the speech called for optimism in the face of the
challenges of today, and stressed the need to abandon our bitter divisions
for the good of the nation. Although he takes office facing huge budget
deficits, unresolved wars in two foreign countries, and a shaky economy,
for many people the new President embodies his campaign themes of hope
and change.
To the youth of America, whose enthusiastic shoulders supported
Barack Obama from the snowy fields of Iowa to the prestige of the Oval
Office, Tuesday’s event was historic not because a black man
now lives in the White House, but because he represents a new beginning,
a new generation, and a unique opportunity to change the course of
this nation.
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