WASHINGTON, 21 January 2005 — On the steps of the US Capitol, George W. Bush was sworn in for a second four-year term as president yesterday, and issued a sweeping pledge to foster freedom and liberty “to the darkest corners of the world.”.
“Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon,” said the president, who led the nation to war in Iraq in a first term marked by terrorist attacks on the United States.
In a speech delivered before a vast throng of fellow Americans spilling away from the steps of the Capitol building, Bush said he would place the United States on the side of the world’s oppressed people. “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, ailing with thyroid cancer and the subject of retirement speculation, administered the oath of office. The 58-year-old president placed one hand on a family Bible and raised the other as he recited an oath as old as the republic.
The weather was cold; security extraordinarily tight for the nation’s 55th inauguration, first since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sharpshooters dressed in black scanned the vast crowd from rooftops and hundreds of police stood shoulder to shoulder along the route of the mid-afternoon inaugural parade.
Newly sworn in, Bush offered an implied rebuttal to critics of his foreign policy and the war in Iraq. “Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty,” he said, “though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt.”
“We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom,” he said in remarks that were shorn of all but the most glancing references to the dominant political issues of the day.
Instead, he packed the first speech of a new term with multiple references to freedom and liberty, references to God — and a reminder of Abraham Lincoln’s long-ago admonition. “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it,” he quoted the 16th president.
The spread of freedom and liberty were the oldest ideals of America, Bush said. “Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation’s security, and the calling of our time.”
Bush, his family and congressional leaders moved into the Capitol following the mid-day swearing in and speech, joining other members of the US political elite for lunch. Ten inaugural balls were held throughout town on Wednesday night, all of which the president dropped in on. The president and Mrs. Bush later attended four dinners at downtown locations, to thank those who contributed $100,000 or more to underwrite much of the $42 million cost of the inaugural celebration.
The most popular inaugural ball was the “Black Tie & Boots Ball,” sponsored by the Texas State Society and a hot ticket despite not being one of the official balls, with almost 12,000 revelers attending.
Everything there was big — Texas style. Buffet tables were groaned under TexMex fare; armadillos, live and stuffed; seven ballrooms with 500 entertainers, including Mariachi bands; 20,000 yellow roses; and the majority of men attending wore their 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots.
One table sold fat Cohiba cigars, which men chomped on happily. Centerpieces were real cowboy boots dipped in real silver.
Security was a nightmare. The entire downtown area was closed to traffic by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, closing down about 100 square blocks of Washington.
— With input from agencies
