Inauguration ‘09
The inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama marks a day of hope for the country, even as it faces daunting international and domestic issues.
On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, and its first black president. He becomes the leader of the free world with a mandate for change — something that 52% of voters decided the country needed. He also arrives in Washington with a party majority in Congress, which can be advantageous for a new president.
President Obama will need the strength of Congressional numbers to tackle the massive problems facing of him: a worsening economy, two foreign wars, strife throughout the Middle East, and a tangle of foreign policy dilemmas, as well as serious domestic issues: education, unemployment, the environment, crumbling infrastructure, and a costly health care system that leaves 46 million Americans uninsured.
But on this one day, the glow is a positive one. In Washington, D.C., and around the country voices are optimistic: Here is the man for the job.
Student journalists in New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute are searching for the street-level stories of this inauguration, reporting from New York City and D.C. Among the 2 million people expected in Washington for Inauguration Day will be several of NYU’s reporters, covering the front lines of history.