People gather on the National Mall in the early hours for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.
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Washington’s power players greet the president-to-be.
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Malia Obama, 10, and Sasha, 7, are all smiles as they arrive at the Capitol to see their father sworn in.
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People bundle up against the cold to watch the “We Are One" concert, one of the bigger events of inauguration weekend.
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Obama takes the oath—incorrectly, it turned out—from Chief Justice John Roberts.
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Michelle Obama holds the Lincoln Bible that Barack Obama chose for the occasion.
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Residents of Kibera, a poor neighborhood in Nairobi, gather around a TV set to watch a half-Kenyan half a world away.
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The Daily Beast and Morning Joe celebrate with a pre-inaugural brunch on Jan. 20.
Although the oath needed a do-over, Sasha, 7, offers her father a high-five.
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Soldiers in the dining hall of the Forward Operating Base in Kalsu, Iraq, watch Obama inherit their mission.
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President George W. Bush looks wistfully over the capital as his helicopter leaves Washington.
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Wheelchair-bound Dick Cheney, sitting beside Bush, checks his watch during Obama’s inaugural address.
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“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.”
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Sharon Schneider, of Decatur, Georgia, celebrates after Obama takes the oath.
The new administration bids adieu to the Bush helicopter on the east steps of the Capitol.
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Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama step out of the “Beast,” the presidential limo, at the Inauguration Parade.
Charles Dharapak / AP Photo
A Navy officer performs the official portrait swap in the lobby of the headquarters of the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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Fresh off the plane from D.C., former President George W. Bush greets the crowd during a celebration in Midland, Texas.
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Bush left the traditional outgoing president’s letter for Obama on the Resolute desk of the Oval Office.
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President Obama leads the first lady onto the dance floor at the Commander-in-Chief Ball on the night of the inauguration.
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Michelle Obama, dressed in Jason Wu, listens to her husband speak at the Midatlantic Regional Inaugural Ball. “First of all, how good-looking is my wife?” Obama asked the crowd.
Jim Young / Reuters
The couple share their first dance at the Neighborhood Ball, where Beyoncé Knowles performed Etta James’s “At Last.”
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“We got the idea for the Neighborhood Ball because we are neighborhood people,” Obama told the crowd.
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Cheering on the president from Singapore.
Wong Maye-E / AP Photo
“Michelle may be a better dancer than me,” Obama once said. “But I’m convinced I’m a better dancer than John McCain.”
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Among the many calls he placed on his first day on the job, Obama reached out to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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President Obama signing a series of executive orders on January 22., including one to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Charles Dharapak / AP Photo
Photographers crowd around the table to photograph the pen that President Barack Obama would use to sign executive orders in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Ron Edmonds / AP Photo
Vice President Joe Biden, left, clasps hands with Obama on Jan. 21, after he signed several executive orders on expectations for ethics and conduct.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo
President Obama is re-sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts after they fumbled the first attempt.
Pete Souza, The White House, Rapport Press / Newscom
Obama’s signature after he signs his first act as president.
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