Obama Inaugurated as 44th President

Barack Obama was officially inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States of America. On a cold blustery day in front of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., President Obama was sworn in to office before atleast a million attendees.

President Obama's first speech as President was exceptional and left the audience and viewers with a sense of purpose and hope for the future laced with warnings about the amount of hard work required ahead to fix the problems on the global relations front (Iraq and Afghanistan) and the domestic front (the economy and the financial crisis).

I thought the newly elected President's speech was forceful particularly in light of the former President sitting to his immediate left. I did not think there was any ambiguity to Obama's harsh undertones of critical judgement of the prior administration. And justifiably so. I thought Cheney being led away on his wheel chair was very symbolic of "out with the old administration and in with the new".

The road ahead has many challenges but atleast newly elected President Obama brings a sense of courage and hope in addressing and meeting those challenges. I am very confident looking forward with our new President.