Video: 'The Inauguration of Barack Obama 2013'
(Monday, January 21, 2013, 11:50 a.m. EST) — President Barack Hussein Obama II of Illinois re-took the oath of office today for a second term as the 44th president of the United States at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Just four minutes earlier, at 11:46 a.m. EST, Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. of Delaware was sworn in again for a second term as the 47th vice president of the United States.
Video: 'The 2nd Inauguration of Barack Obama: Live from The Washington Post'
Since 1937, the four-year term of the president and vice president has ended and begun at noon on January 20, as prescribed by the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. But because January 20, 2013, fell on a Sunday, both Obama (at 11:55 a.m. EST) and Biden (at 8:21 a.m. EST) were officially sworn in privately, and then again the following day, today, in a public ceremony.
The Obama-Biden Democratic ticket had defeated the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the 2012 United States presidential election by 332 to 206 votes in the Electoral College.
Video: 'The 2013 Presidential Inauguration Parade'
In his second inauguration address, Obama proclaimed that “while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth”. He called for laws to combat climate change, enactment of immigration reform and gun control.
Obama stated that more progress was needed on human rights and civil rights (including racial minority rights, women’s rights, and LGBT rights).
He vowed to promote democracy abroad and stated that the United States must “be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice” worldwide.
Video: 'Inaugural Balls and Parties: The Celebs, the Gowns, the Music'
Additionally, the president vowed to keep existing alliances strong, emphasized the economic recovery and the end of wars, and stated that “no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation.”
During the speech, Obama linked the Seneca Falls Convention, Selma to Montgomery marches, and the Stonewall riots.
Approximately one million people attended the inauguration, and millions more watched from around the world.
