over 2 million people!
As many as a million people, bundled up against the cold, turned out to watch as Mr Obama swore to "preserve, protect and defend" the US constitution as he become the first black man to hold America's highest elected office.
Addressing listeners around the world, the new president said: "As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
"Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. "Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expediency's sake.
"And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
The economic ills facing the United States are "a consequence of greed and irresponsibility," Mr Obama said, giving warning that a nation cannot long prosper "when it favours only the prosperous."
The inauguration took place amid unprecedented security. About 8,000 police were deployed and a total of 32,000 military personnel were on duty or on standby.
Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office as the 44th President of the United States as he is sworn in by US Chief Justice John Roberts
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