Making his inaugural speech as the US President, Barack Obama said that "America is friend of all nations and we are ready to lead once more."
"Time has come to set aside our childishness...We must begin the work of remaking America," he said. "The challenges we face are real but they will be met."
"A country cannot prosper if it only supports the prosperous. Our nation is at war; our economy is badly weakened," he said.
"America is bigger than the sum of our individual aspirations. Our spirit is stronger and no one can outlast us."
Obama made a most significant remark about Iraq: "We will leave Iraq to its people," he said.
Earlier, Obama took oath as the 44th President of the United States. The oath was administered by the Chief Justice of the United States. Joe Biden was sworn-in as the Vice-President.
To witness the historical moment, millions gathered in Washington DC. Crowds thronged Pensylvania Avenue near the White House and along the National Mall in front of the Capitol Hill where Obama took oath.
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H W Bush, Bill Clinton and outgoing President George W Bush attended the ceremony.
Hold your excitement for few more hours. Two superpower of the world will be indulged into transition just after few hours. George W. Bush will hand over the power to Barak Obama.
The economy will spring back to life, the troops are on the way home from Iraq, health care coverage for all promised and many more exciting and new things will happen with Barak Obama becoming the powerful man on the planet.
"People are going to give Obama more time than they would any other new president because they know he is dealing with unprecedented challenges," said Mark McKinnon, a consultant who worked for a time for Senator John McCain, Obama's Republican opponent in the presidential election. "The economic crisis President-elect Obama faces may in some ways help him — it is taking some of the helium out of what would otherwise be stratospheric expectations."
A Times/CBS News Poll, conducted last week, offered at least some guidance for the Obama Expectations Clock. Most respondents said they thought it would take Obama two years or more to deliver on campaign promises to improve the economy, expand health care coverage and end the war in Iraq. One of the more intriguing questions as the nation approaches this transfer of power is this: At what point, if ever, does Bush lose ownership of this recession and it becomes an Obama recession? Most respondents think the recession will last two years or longer.
