I Was There, Inauguration of Barack Obama

On January 20, 2009, I joined millions on the National Mall to bear witness to the peaceful change in power to our 44^th President, Barack Obama. We braved cold and crowds and joined together, stretching from the Capitol building where our laws are made, past the National Archives with the Constitution itself, around the gentle rise of the Washington monument, to the Lincoln Memorial. Among these monuments to our democracy, this is what I saw and felt.

The Constitution begins “We the people…� and with those three words established a new kind of governance. Borne out of tyranny and oppression, this Constitution promised justice, tranquility, and liberty for all its citizens. Rather than a king or monarch, a power given by birthright, the Constitution established a process for shared power between three branches of government. The Executive Branch was to be led by a President, a born citizen at least 39 years old who serves at the will of the people. It is a testament to our Founding Fathers and to our own faith in the system that this transition happens peacefully every four years and that we truly can change the leadership of our country by casting our vote.

We, the people, journeyed to Washington DC to bear witness to this event. Despite packed metro cars, long lines, and scant information about where to go, we remained joyous, kind, and gracious to one another. The million or more who came to the Mall represented the hundreds of millions more who watched or listened from every corner of the world.

A little after 7, as the sun came up, my friends and I headed to the Tenleytown Metro Station on the red line. We squeezed onto the first train through the station. At each stop, we crowded together, knowing that we all shared a single destination and no one wanted to leave anyone behind.

When we emerged from the underground at Judiciary Square, the streets undulated, a moving mass headed to the Mall. Yet, the streets also had the quiet calm of a clear winter morning. We walked through the Third Street tunnel to the other side of the Mall and started winding away from the Capitol Building toward the end of the Silver Ticket holder line.

At about 8:30, we reached the end of the line at Sixth Street SW and C Street SW. Our destination: the Silver Ticket Screening Point at Third Street and Maryland Avenue. Thousands of people continued to stream past us as the line snaked on and on for blocks. About 9:30, the line began to move toward the Capitol.

By 10:00, we had reached Independence Avenue and Third Street, two short blocks from the Silver Ticket Holder area on the west side of the reflecting pool by the Capitol Building. People continued to stream from the metro stations, seeking ingress, moving west. We defended our line, telling latecomers to move to the end. I still felt certain that all 100,000 Silver Ticket holders would have a place on the Mall. Some people turned away, doubting that we would be admitted. We introduced ourselves, sent texts and called friends to try to gain information. Despite growing frustration and a little anxiety, everyone kept their cool.

Finally, another surge forward and we were between Independence and Maryland Avenues. I could see the dome of the Capitol Building, glowing with the white light of the clear morning. I could hear music and vague introductions of dignitaries attending the ceremony. A chant began: “Let us in, Let us in.� At 11:25, my spirits started to sink. Had we come all this way not to be admitted? We could not hear or see.

Then a voice in a bullhorn: “Silver ticket holders, hold your tickets in the air,� gloved hands waved Silver Tickets in the air, “Go!� We surged forward into an open space and moved toward the Capitol Building. We crowded in next to each other and listened. I could see the top of the dome and the faces of those around me. Up above, gulls circled and the bare branches of winter trees etched the sky. At first, I felt disappointed. I had come all this way to see Barack Obama take the Oath of Office and become the 44^th President of the United States.

As I listened to his address, I realized that like his candidacy, his administration would not be about him, but about us. Yes, WE can. “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.� Barack Obama reminds us of all the people who left their homes to come to this country in search of a new life, and I see those origins reflected in the many colors and shapes of the faces around me. I think about my own ancestors, crowding onto boats from Ireland and Scotland, trusting that their destination would be a better place to make a home.

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.� I am reminded of the simple trip today. “We, the people� assembled on the Mall together with respect for the moment. Though I could not see, I experienced the amazing quiet of a million people listening to a man with something to say. The spontaneous shouts of “Yes We Can�. The eruption of cheers, and the calm exit at the end of the day.

As the crowd began to disperse, I lingered on the Mall. We had been standing about 10 feet from the Reflection Pool and now people skated across the frozen water and posed for pictures. They climbed the statuary and stood on steps at the edge of the pool with the Capitol Building behind, festooned with flags and banners. This is our America, and our government serves at the will of the people.

We finally climbed the steps to home at about 2pm, hungry, tired, and cold, but satisfied. At the end of his inaugural address, Barack Obama did not invoke Lincoln or Kennedy or even Roosevelt as many had expected. Instead he read the words of our first president, George Washington, invoking the darkest time at the birth of our nation, the battle at Valley Forge, and the success of the experiment of democracy that is the United States of America: “Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).� Are we ready to meet the challenges ahead? We have before and we will now.