At 12:00 noon on Inauguration Day 2009 (Tuesday, January 20, 2009, as set by the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution), Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States.
Welcome to the White House
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and their family.
It is said that George Bush Sr. started the tradition of the New President walking and escorting the Old President to the awaiting Helicopter as he did with Ronald Reagan. Here, Obama escorts George W Bush to the awaiting Helicopter and below the President Bush and Laura leaving the White House.
This photo is of the Belated President Ronald Reagan as he leaves the White House. I also included his last speach.
It was said that as President Reagan flew around the white house one final time he told his wife Nancy, "Well honey, there's our old little shack." Here is
Ronald's Farewell speech.
President Reagan's Farewell Speech
The President spoke at 9:02 P.M. from the Oval Office at the White House. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television.
January 11, 1989
This is the 34th time I'll speak to you from the Oval Office and the last. We've been together 8 years now, and soon it'll be time for me to go. But before I do, I wanted to share some thoughts, some of which I've been saving for a long time.
It's been the honor of my life to be your President. So many of you have written the past few weeks to say thanks, but I could say as much to you. Nancy and I are grateful for the opportunity you gave us to serve.
One of the things about the Presidency is that you're always somewhat apart. You spent a lot of time going by too fast in a car someone else is driving, and seeing the people through tinted glass--the parents holding up a child, and the wave you saw too late and couldn't return. And so many times I wanted to stop and reach out from behind the glass, and connect. Well, maybe I can do a little of that tonight.
People ask how I feel about leaving. And the fact is, "parting is such sweet sorrow." The sweet part is California and the ranch and freedom. The sorrow--the goodbyes, of course, and leaving this beautiful place.
You know, down the hall and up the stairs from this office is the part of the White House where the President and his family live. There are a few favorite windows I have up there that I like to stand and look out of early in the morning. The view is over the grounds here to the Washington Monument, and then the Mall and the Jefferson Memorial. But on mornings when the humidity is low, you can see past the Jefferson to the river, the Potomac, and the Virginia shore. Someone said that's the view Lincoln had when he saw the smoke rising from the Battle of Bull Run. I see more prosaic things: the grass on the banks, the morning traffic as people make their way to work, now and then a sailboat on the river.
I've been thinking a bit at that window....We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
Ciao for now,
Arnnette
I've included the President Obama and Michelles first dance as President of the United States.
