Barack Obama steps into history to become US president
January 21st, 2009 - 12:13 am ICT by IANS
Washington, Jan 20 (IANS) Barack Obama stepped into history Tuesday as the first African American to be sworn in as president of the United States.Obama stood on the flag-bedecked wooden special inaugural platform on the West Front of the Capitol overlooking the national monuments to take the oath of office as the 44th president of the world’s oldest democracy.
Obama laid one hand on the Bible used by president Abraham Lincoln in 1861 and swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”.
Born Aug 4, 1961 in Hawaii, to a US mother and a Kenyan father, he spent his childhood in Hawaii and in Indonesia (1967-70).
Obama had defeated Republican Senator John McCain in last year’s presidential election.
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