In our opinion: A historic day for America

A man whose father might not have been served at a local restaurant 60 years ago stood before the nation Tuesday to take the oath as president of the United States.

With his right hand raised and his left on the Lincoln Inaugural Bible, the son of a black Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas became the 44th president of the United States.

In taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama, 47, broke a barrier many generations of minorities had previously believed was impossible to penetrate.

As much as Obama's inaugural events focused on the nation's history with respect to slavery, war and the fight for civil rights, much of his inaugural address speech was devoted to the many challenges at hand — the flagging economy, significant job losses, ongoing wars in the Middle East, the staggering escalation of health-care costs and schools that are failing too many students.

In an attempt, perhaps, to check the meteoric expectations of his presidency, President Obama acknowledged that today's challenges "will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met."

At times, President Obama's inaugural address took issue with Bush administration practices — particularly where individual freedoms have collided with national security interests and the philosophy behind the Bush doctrine.

"As for our common defense, 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 expedience's sake."

With a nod to nations and people who seek a future of peace and dignity, "we are ready to lead once more."

In many respects, President Obama's inauguration was unprecedented. Some 2 million people packed the National Mall for the inauguration festivities. Later in the day, hundreds of thousands of people packed the inaugural parade route, many of them young people who had never before been part of the political process. Candidate Obama had reached out to them via the Internet, which may serve him well as he called on Americans to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America."