Long before sunrise, with the crescent moon
still high in the sky, inauguration revellers left warm homes to stand in long,
cold lines and ride packed trains to the once-in-a- lifetime event unfolding
Tuesday in the nation's capital, dpa reported.
Unprecedented numbers - the final count could reach 2 million - gathered to
celebrate the presidency of Barack Obama, 47, the nation's soon-to-be first
black president who many said was bringing them hope after eight gloomy years
of the George W Bush presidency.
The day uncorked a level of enthusiasm for American politics and the presidency
that long-time Washington residents said they had never seen.
"I'm proud of my country, and thought earlier we were drowning," said
Fred Lathern, 67, a retired printer who worked for the government and was born
and raised in Washington. "There's hope that Obama will pull us out."
The contrasts couldn't be greater. In 2001, Bush entered office having lost the
popular vote but won a Supreme Court decision. Obama is bounding into office on
a feverish upswell of expectation and a solid 53 per cent of the vote.
As much as the enthusiasm on the streets was an outpouring of support for
Obama, it was also a sign people were happy to get rid of Bush, who is leaving
office with the lowest job approval rating in decades.
"Goodbye Bush, Goodbye Bush," Metro riders continuously chanted at
one exit station near the festivities.
Revellers travelled to Washington from all over the United States and the world
to witness history in the making.
"I could have seen this on TV but I wanted to be here to see hope, change
and history in the making," said Yvonne Gill, 43, a nurse from Notre Dame, Indiana.
Barriers were set up all around the downtown area to block vehicle traffic as
the crowd filled bleachers along the parade route Obama will take along Pennsylvania Avenue from Capitol Hill to the White House after swearing the oath of office
at 1700 GMT.
Cynthia McNeal, 50, an African American office secretary from North Carolina,
said she came to honour her parents and the 1960s struggle for civil rights led
by Martin Luther King Jr.
"I'm here to witness history," McNeal said.
To keep the crowds happy as they packed the 3-kilometre-long National Mall from
the Lincoln Memorial to near Capitol Hill, organizers replayed the 2-hour
star-studded Obama concert from Sunday afternoon.
"This is one of the most extraordinary moments in American history, where
the past, present and the future come together at noon today," Congressman
Jesse Jackson Junior, whose civil rights activist father ran for president in
the 1980s, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
"Today, the world will look at America differently and today Americans
will look at each other differently," he said.
Obama enters office with broad support from all ethnic groups, but the moment
carried particular poignance for African-Americans.
"We waited a long time to get here, but we have to be involved. It's about
all of us," said Denzel Washington, the 54-year-old actor who was in the
close-up viewing area.
Washington, who helped shape the image of the modern African- American on the
big screen, said Obama's inauguration as the 44th US president was a tribute to
the sacrifices of civil rights activists who went before him.
"There's been a lot of change to lead to this moment. Many came before
him, made sacrifices for this day to happen. It's for them," he said.
High expectations for Obama to tackle the two wars and faltering economy that
he is inheriting grew Tuesday along with the high spirits that pulsed through
the record crowds.
Even at 7 am, groups of revellers had a hard time keeping their members
together as they headed to the National Mall.
At one point, a woman looking for a group member cried out: "Jesus, where
are you?"
Came the anonymous response from the crowd: "He's at the mall in a couple
of hours!"
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