Барак Обама принял присягу и вступил в должность президента США, став 44-м лидером этого государства. Новый президент США произнес президентскую клятву, записанную в Конституции США:

"Я торжественно клянусь, что буду преданно исполнять обязанности президента Соединенных Штатов и изо всех сил оберегать, охранять и защищать Конституцию Соединенных Штатов".

По традиции, установленной Джорджем Вашингтоном, президентская клятва завершалась словами: "И да поможет мне Бог".

Бывший сенатор от штата Иллинойс стал первым в истории темнокожим президентом США.

Pетроспектива: 1861 - 2005 годы:

This 1889 painting by Ramon de Elorriaga shows the inauguration of the first president, George Washington

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Abraham Lincoln's, March 1861
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Grover Cleveland was both the 22 and 24 President of the US. He was inaugurated in 1885, 1889 ...
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... and again in 1893, beating the incumbent President Benjamin Harrison
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William McKinley became the 25th President of the United States in 1897 and was elected for a second term. He is pictured here leaving for his inauguration in 1901 
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Theodore Roosevelt, 1901 and 1905
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William Howard Taft, in 1909
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Woodrow Wilson served two terms in office, succeeding Taft in 1913
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Warren G Harding, from 1921 until his death from a heart attack in 1923
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When Harding died in 1923, Calvin Coolidge succeeded to the Presidency and was elected in his own right the following year, taking the Oath of Office in March 1925
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Herbert Hoover became the 31st President of the United States in March 1929
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933...
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...1937, 1941...
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...and 1945. He died shortly after the start of his fourth term and was succeeded by Harry S Truman
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Harry S Truman (the 'S' didn't stand for anything) was elected for a second term and is seen here waving to the crowd during a parade after his inauguration on January 20, 1949
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Dwight D Eisenhower, in 1953. (Also pictured are Truman and Richard Nixon, bottom right) 
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John F Kennedy served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
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Kennedy's Vice President, Lyndon B Johnson, succeeded him after he was killed, and took the Oath of Office for a second term in 1965
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Richard Nixon, in 1969
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Vice President Gerald Ford became President in August 1974 after Nixon's resignation
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Jimmy Carter was sworn in on January 20 1977
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Actor Ronald Reagan served two terms as President, taking the Oath of Office in January 1981 ...
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... and again in 1985
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George H W Bush took the Oath of Office in January 1989
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Bill Clinton, January 20 1993
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... He served a second term from 1997 and left office with a high approval rating, despite the Lewinsky and Whitewater controversies
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George W Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn in as President in January 2001 ...
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.. and again in 2005. He leaved office with one of the lowest approval ratings in history
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2009 - ...