Barack Obama Sworn in as President

January 20, 2009

President Obama takes the Oath of Office.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President George W. Bush and his wife have left Washington for their Texas home, after eight years in the White House.

Following the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation's 44th president, Bush and his wife Laura boarded a helicopter alongside the U.S. Capitol. The new president and his wife walked them to the chopper - keeping with tradition - to see them off.

The Bushes are first headed to Midland, Texas, for a homecoming celebration in the city that hosted a send-off for them eight years ago. Then they'll go to their ranch in Crawford for their first night as private citizens again.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is telling the world's Muslims that his administration will be looking for a "new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

And he's warning leaders around the globe who try to encourage conflict and "blame their society's ills on the West" that their people will judge them on what they build, not what they destroy.

In his inaugural address, Obama also pledged broader engagement in the world. Saying the people of the world should know that America is a friend of all who seek "a future of peace and dignity," Obama vowed that the U.S. is "ready to lead once more."

He's also pledging to "work alongside" the people of poor nations to make "farms flourish and let clean waters flow."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Hussein Obama has taken the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States.

With a hand on Abraham Lincoln's inaugural bible, and before a crowd stretching across the National Mall toward where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his dream of racial equality, the 47-year-old Obama was sworn in as the first black American president by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Roberts told him, "Congratulations, Mr. President."

Obama's wife, Michelle, and young daughters Sasha and Malia looked on. They were joined by people from around the world who gathered in huge numbers in the early morning Washington cold to see history made.

AP-NY-01-20-09 1209EST

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