ABSTRACT

Precisely at Noon on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States. Obama’s inauguration ceremonies extended over several days, culminating in the formal swearing-in, the inaugural speech, and the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. About two million people, the largest inauguration crowd ever, attended the events. The day concluded with a round of ten official inaugural balls with the new president and first-lady attending, briefly, as many as possible.