Agence France-Presse - 1/19/2009 11:39 PM GMT
Barack Obama called Monday on a nation reeling from economic crisis and war to march together in the spirit of Martin Luther King, hours before being sworn in as America's first black president.
On the eve of Tuesday's historic inauguration, Obama visited wounded veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a refuge for troubled teenagers, and a school to help prepare care packages for troops overseas.
"Tomorrow, we will come together as one people on the same mall where Dr King's dream echoes still," Obama said in a statement, paying tribute to the slain civil rights hero on the national holiday commemorating King's birth.
"As we do, we recognize that here in America, our destinies are inextricably linked," he said.
"We resolve that as we walk, we must walk together. And as we go forward in the work of renewing the promise of this nation, let's remember King's lesson -- that our separate dreams are really one."
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said nearly seven in 10 African-Americans believe that with the election of Obama, King's dream of racial equality has been fulfilled.
Thousands of people -- black, white, Asian and Latino -- flocked to the National Mall where millions of Americans are expected to gather on Tuesday to bear witness to Obama's moment of history.
Outside the White House, a carnival mood built, as people snapped pictures of the viewing stand where Obama and his family will watch the inaugural parade before moving inside to assume command of the Oval Office.
"I'm 41 and I've never experienced anything this big," said Keith Smith, an African-American Washington native and city employee, as a smothering security operation kicked in ahead of an influx expected to reach millions of people.
"There is a whole lot of energy and excitement in the atmosphere -- it takes our mind off the bad economy and job losses," Smith said.
Aides said Obama's call for a new spirit of national sacrifice will figure heavily in his inaugural address after he is sworn in around noon Tuesday, as he gets to grips with the nation's longest recession since World War II.
For the first presidential handover since the September 11 attacks of 2001, President George W. Bush's White House said Defense Secretary Robert Gates would sit out the event at an undisclosed location as the "designated successor," in case of a catastrophe.
Gates was a fitting choice: Bush chose him to be his defense secretary in November 2006, and Obama has decided to keep him on at the Pentagon to tackle a withdrawal from Iraq and a new offensive in Afghanistan.
With the inauguration hours away, Jill Biden, wife of Joseph Biden , appeared to let slip a piece of choice political gossip, suggesting her husband had been given a choice of being vice president or secretary of state.
Biden, who will be sworn in as vice president on Tuesday, quickly tried to hush up his wife during their joint appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, and his spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander quickly put out a statement.
"To be clear, president-elect Obama offered vice president-elect Biden one job only -- to be his running mate and the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer," she said.
Later Monday, Obama was to attend three dinners honoring the spirit of bipartisanship that he says he will restore to Washington.
Honorees were Obama's Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain, Biden and former secretary of state Colin Powell.
Obama aides meanwhile said all five crew members of a US Airways jet that safely ditched in New York's Hudson River Thursday had been invited to the inauguration ceremony on Capitol Hill.
Rolling up his sleeves to help with renovations at Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for homeless teenagers near Congress, Obama invoked King's words to say: "Everybody can be great because everybody can serve."
On Sunday, Obama stood in the shadow of the memorial dedicated to Civil War president Abraham Lincoln to deliver a somber overview of the perils ahead, after a star-studded concert to kick off the inaugural party.
The site was where King in 1963, five years before his assassination, gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, when he expressed hope his children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
http://news.my.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2164987
Barack Obama called Monday on a nation reeling from economic crisis and war to march together in the spirit of Martin Luther King, hours before being sworn in as America's first black president.
On the eve of Tuesday's historic inauguration, Obama visited wounded veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a refuge for troubled teenagers, and a school to help prepare care packages for troops overseas.
"Tomorrow, we will come together as one people on the same mall where Dr King's dream echoes still," Obama said in a statement, paying tribute to the slain civil rights hero on the national holiday commemorating King's birth.
"As we do, we recognize that here in America, our destinies are inextricably linked," he said.
"We resolve that as we walk, we must walk together. And as we go forward in the work of renewing the promise of this nation, let's remember King's lesson -- that our separate dreams are really one."
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said nearly seven in 10 African-Americans believe that with the election of Obama, King's dream of racial equality has been fulfilled.
Thousands of people -- black, white, Asian and Latino -- flocked to the National Mall where millions of Americans are expected to gather on Tuesday to bear witness to Obama's moment of history.
Outside the White House, a carnival mood built, as people snapped pictures of the viewing stand where Obama and his family will watch the inaugural parade before moving inside to assume command of the Oval Office.
"I'm 41 and I've never experienced anything this big," said Keith Smith, an African-American Washington native and city employee, as a smothering security operation kicked in ahead of an influx expected to reach millions of people.
"There is a whole lot of energy and excitement in the atmosphere -- it takes our mind off the bad economy and job losses," Smith said.
Aides said Obama's call for a new spirit of national sacrifice will figure heavily in his inaugural address after he is sworn in around noon Tuesday, as he gets to grips with the nation's longest recession since World War II.
For the first presidential handover since the September 11 attacks of 2001, President George W. Bush's White House said Defense Secretary Robert Gates would sit out the event at an undisclosed location as the "designated successor," in case of a catastrophe.
Gates was a fitting choice: Bush chose him to be his defense secretary in November 2006, and Obama has decided to keep him on at the Pentagon to tackle a withdrawal from Iraq and a new offensive in Afghanistan.
With the inauguration hours away, Jill Biden, wife of Joseph Biden , appeared to let slip a piece of choice political gossip, suggesting her husband had been given a choice of being vice president or secretary of state.
Biden, who will be sworn in as vice president on Tuesday, quickly tried to hush up his wife during their joint appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, and his spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander quickly put out a statement.
"To be clear, president-elect Obama offered vice president-elect Biden one job only -- to be his running mate and the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer," she said.
Later Monday, Obama was to attend three dinners honoring the spirit of bipartisanship that he says he will restore to Washington.
Honorees were Obama's Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain, Biden and former secretary of state Colin Powell.
Obama aides meanwhile said all five crew members of a US Airways jet that safely ditched in New York's Hudson River Thursday had been invited to the inauguration ceremony on Capitol Hill.
Rolling up his sleeves to help with renovations at Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for homeless teenagers near Congress, Obama invoked King's words to say: "Everybody can be great because everybody can serve."
On Sunday, Obama stood in the shadow of the memorial dedicated to Civil War president Abraham Lincoln to deliver a somber overview of the perils ahead, after a star-studded concert to kick off the inaugural party.
The site was where King in 1963, five years before his assassination, gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, when he expressed hope his children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
http://news.my.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2164987
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