Obama sworn in for a second term at inauguration
Posted January 21, 2013 12:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
U.S. President Barack Obama launched his second term in office on Monday, delivering an assertive inaugural address in front of the U.S. Capitol. He laid out a clear political battle plan for the next four years, specifically mentioning climate change, immigration reform and gay rights.
Obama also called for national unity, emphasizing the need for compromise in political debate.
“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act. We must act knowing that our work will be imperfect,” Obama said during his address.
Obama commented on U.S. relations abroad as well, pledging to help foster democracy around the world.
“We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity – but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.”
Looking out on a sea of flags, Obama spoke to a crowd of up to 700,000 people, which was less than half the record 1.8 million who assembled four years ago.
Obama also spoke in more specific terms than originally expected. He promised “hard choices” to reduce the federal deficit and called for a revamping of the tax code and a remaking of government.
The Democrat arrived at his second inauguration on solid footing, with his poll numbers up, Republicans on the defensive and his first-term record boasting accomplishments such as a U.S. healthcare overhaul, ending the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
But fights are looming over budgets, gun control and immigration, with Republicans ready to oppose him at almost every turn, and Obama still seemingly at a loss over how to engage them in deal-making.
