(Current Affairs) International Events | April: 2013

Barack Obama Sworn in as the US President

Barack Obama, the first mixed race president of the United States, was sworn in as the President of the country for the second term on 20 January 2013. The oath-taking ceremony was quiet as well as brief in the White House East Room by Justice John Roberts. The brief oath-taking ceremony was held to meet the constitutional deadline, i.e., 20 January, under which term of both President as well as the Vice- President finishes at the noon. The formality of repeating this ceremony will publically take place on 21 January 2013 because public institutions and the courts which record as well as endorse swearingin officially were closed on 20 January 2013 as it was Sunday. Therefore, in the brief ceremony, only President, his family along with a closed group that viewed Justice Roberts swear-in Barack Obama in private ceremony. Obama took oath as the President of the country on the family Bible. On 21 January 2013, Obama repeated oath-taking process on those Bibles which were used by Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln because 20 January 2013 was an official holiday in the US. Apart from Obama, in yet another ceremony, Vice-president Joseph Biden administered this oath-taking by associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Importance of swearing-in, historically

• Even though the swearing-in of Obama was kept on lowprofile, but this was creation of history because Barack Obama became the first mixed-race president who was elected for second consecutive term.

• Also, Barack Obama is the third consecutive president to win two terms, after Bush and Clinton. This had happened two centuries ago earlier when Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were elected for two terms each between the time periods of 1801 to 1825.