Accessibility links
Presidential Inauguration Of Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in Jan. 20, 2009, as the 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office. An enthusiastic crowd braved cold temperatures in Washington, D.C., to pack the National Mall for the ceremony.
Special Series

Presidential Inauguration Of Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in Jan. 20, 2009, as the 44th president of the United States.

New President, 'New Era Of Responsibility'

Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States Tuesday. He delivered a sober, plain-spoken inaugural address that did not contain the soaring rhetoric that often marked his campaign speeches. He told the crowd, "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility."

New President, 'New Era Of Responsibility'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99634389/99634350" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Obamas Could Have Danced All Night

President Obama escorted his wife to 10 official inaugural balls Tuesday night. Each one had a theme — such as the Youth Ball and the Armed Forces Ball. Six were held at the Washington Convention Center.

Obamas Could Have Danced All Night

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99634409/99634431" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

For Inaugural, Congress Suspends Party Divisions

President Obama and Vice President Biden were sworn in Tuesday on the steps of the Capitol, where both had served as senators. For many Republican lawmakers, national pride trumped political loyalty on Tuesday.

For Inaugural, Congress Suspends Party Divisions

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99634369/99634344" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

NPR News Special: Barack Obama's Inauguration

After taking the oath of office with his hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible, President Barack Obama called the nation to remake America. More than one million people gathered on the National Mall to witness history on Tuesday.

NPR News Special: Barack Obama's Inauguration

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99639661/99627609" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

NPR News Special: Inaugural Festivities Underway

An enthusiastic crowd braved cold temperatures in Washington, D.C., to pack the National Mall for Barack Obama's Inauguration Tuesday. With the Inaugural Parade underway, NPR takes listeners to the reviewing stand on Pennsylvania Avenue.

NPR News Special: Inaugural Festivities Underway

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99639793/99627697" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Security Stalls Crowds Descending On D.C.

High-level security collided with unprecedented interest to create a pedestrian traffic jam near Washington, D.C.'s National Mall on inauguration day. Hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the city found their way slowly toward the noontime ceremony at which Barack Obama will become the 44th U.S. president.

NPR's Neda Ulaby Reports On Ticket-Holders Who Didn't Get In

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99574844/99651167" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Inauguration Update: Counting Down At Capitol, RFK

Excitement — and the crowd — was building at the U.S. Capitol with just a few hours until the inauguration of Barack Obama. NPR's Brian Naylor reports from a security checkpoint. Meantime, people were starting to take their seats to witness the event, as Debbie Elliott reports. And at RFK Stadium, Frank Langfitt says thousands of buses are arriving as expected. Steve Inskeep also checks in.

Inauguration Update: Counting Down At Capitol, RFK

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99580572/99580598" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Inauguration Update: A Sea Of People

Downtown Washington, D.C., is a sea of people around 9:30 a.m., extending from near the White House, where NPR's John Ydstie spies the parade route and St. John's Episcopal Church; to the Lincoln Memorial, where Audie Cornish reports; to the Memorial Bridge, where Allison Aubrey is posted among the pedestrian-only traffic. Steve Inskeep and Don Gonyea also check in.

Inauguration Update: A Sea Of People

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99579621/99578610" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Inauguration Update: Travelers From Afar

NPR's Ina Jaffe and Joe Shapiro check in. Jaffe is traveling on a bus with a group from Louisville, Ky. Shapiro, meanwhile, caught up with 105-year-old Ella Mae Johnson, who traveled from Cleveland to Washington, D.C., to witness Obama's inauguration.

Inauguration Update: Travelers From Afar

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99576424/99576247" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Inauguration Update: At The White House

NPR's David Greene reports from outside the White House on what the day holds for the outgoing president and vice president as the new administration moves in. Scott Horsley also checks in near the White House.

Inauguration Update: At The White House

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99574900/99574899" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Inauguration Update: A Grand, Historic Day

NPR's Larry Abramson, Linda Wertheimer and Juan Williams weigh in. Abramson reports from the 14th Street Bridge. Wertheimer, who has witnessed many inaugurals in Washington, talks about how this year's bash compares to others. Williams recalls key people and events leading to the inauguration of the first black U.S. president.

Inauguration Update: A Grand, Historic Day

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99574406/99574405" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Across The Country, People Witness History

The inauguration of Barack Obama resonates differently across the country. From Seattle to a Southern civil rights battleground, from a Denver college campus to Oklahoma's Coal County, people watched Tuesday's ceremony wondering whether Obama would fulfill their dreams or confirm their fears.

Across The Country, People Witness History

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99634396/99634352" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National Mall No Room For Claustrophobes

Crowds tightly packed the space around the inaugural stage — forming a long ribbon of people all the way to the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of the National Mall. Most of them, if they were lucky, got to see President Obama's inauguration on one of a number of Jumbotrons.

National Mall No Room For Claustrophobes

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99634392/99634351" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org