President Obama began the task of governing Tuesday even before his inaugural hoopla was over, taking steps both real and symbolic.
As soon as Obama was done being sworn in as the nation’s 44th commander in chief, he officially sent the names of his cabinet picks to the Senate for confirmation so that his supporting cast [...]

The clergy were Protestant, and so was the new head of state.
But the inauguration Tuesday of President Barack Obama aimed for a much broader audience: an increasingly diverse America, where people want their beliefs acknowledged in the nation’s most important ceremony.
In his address, Obama referred to God and Scripture, saying, “the time has come to [...]

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ill with a brain tumor, was hospitalized Tuesday but quickly reported feeling well after suffering a seizure at a post-inauguration luncheon for President Barack Obama.
After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue,” Dr. Edward Aulisi, chairman of neurosurgery at Washington Hospital Center said in a statement released [...]

Crowds streamed into the nation’s capital Tuesday, packing mass transit before dawn as out-of-towners and area residents alike headed for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall for the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama.
“This is the culmination of two years of work,” said Obama activist Akin Salawu, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who helped the candidate [...]

In less than 24 hours we’ll have a new President, and just as with all Presidential inaugurations preceding it, I am not invited. It is being called the hottest ticket in history.
Not only are single tickets commanding $20,000 and more, but ESPN will be covering it. NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind.
Actually, though, [...]

Barack Obama stood at the threshold of the White House on Monday, summoning fellow Americans to join him in service as tens of thousands flocked to the nation’s capital to celebrate his inauguration as the first black president.
“Tomorrow we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King’s dream echoes still,” [...]

Israel plans to pull all of its troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated Tuesday, but only if Hamas militants hold their fire, Israeli officials said.
Thousands of troops have left Gaza since Israel declared Saturday its intention to unilaterally halt fire after a devastating, three-week Israeli onslaught.
Gaza’s Hamas [...]

It will take Barack Obama less than a minute to recite the oath of office — and when he’s done dancing at the inaugural balls Jan. 20, the price tag for his swearing-in festivities will be $155 million.
Obama’s inaugural committee is in the midst of raising roughly $45 million in private funds, exceeding the $42.3 [...]