US President Barack Obama on Sunday was sworn in for a second term darkened by strife at home and abroad, in rituals stripped of the hope and promise of his first inauguration four years ago.
Using a bible belonging to First Lady Michelle Obama's grandmother, Obama, 51, swore to faithfully execute the office of president at a low-key ceremony at in the Blue Room of the White House, to comply with the US Constitution, which dictates his first term ends at noon on January 20.
In a tradition honored when that date falls on a Sunday, Obama will repeat the oath in a public ceremony Monday, and deliver his inaugural address to Americans, and the watching world, outside the US Capitol.
Vice President Joe Biden already had already re-taken the oath of office earlier Sunday. Biden placed his hand on a thick and weathered-looking bible held by his wife, Jill, and pledged to "support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
The small morning ceremony was officiated by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, and attended by a number of Biden's family members.
Obama's second inauguration, which comes courtesy of an election win over Republican Mitt Romney in November, lacks the hope and history that pulsated through his swearing-in as the first black American president in 2009.
Since then, a graying Obama has been battered by a weak economic recovery, failed to meet hugely elevated expectations for his presidency and waged a political war of attrition with Republicans.
He begins anew with several fierce budget and with his "Yes We Can" rhetoric soured by sarcasm over the blocking tactics of Republicans in the partisan brouhaha paralyzing government in Washington.
While polls show Obama's approval ratings above 50 percent, far higher than the reviled Congress, they also indicate that many Americans, wearied by a stop-start recovery, doubt their country is headed in the right direction.
As he raises his right hand, 224 years after George Washington took the first oath of office to lead a new nation, Obama also knows that for second term presidents, power quickly wanes and political potholes await.
The second term "curse" often strikes: Richard Nixon resigned, Bill Clinton was impeached, George W. Bush's image was shattered by Iraq and Hurricane Katrina and Ronald Reagan's legacy was marred by the Iran-Contra scandal.
Obama has already said that he will root his second term on the crusade to build a more equitable economy which powered his triumph over multi-millionaire Romney.
AFP