奧巴馬將“第四次”宣誓就任總統

Obama starts second term in low-key White House ceremony

中國日報網 2013-01-22 09:03

US President Barack Obama takes the official oath of office from US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, as Obama is sworn in for his second term as the 44th President of the United States, at the White House in Washington January 20, 2013.

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奧巴馬就職典禮專題

President Barack Obama took the official oath for his second term on Sunday at the White House in a small, private ceremony that set a more subdued tone compared to the historic start of his presidency four years ago.

Gathered with his family in the Blue Room on the White House's ceremonial main floor, Obama put his hand on a family Bible and recited the 35-word oath that was read out loud by US Chief Justice John Roberts.

"I did it," Obama said as he hugged his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia. "Thank you, sweetie," he told Michelle when she congratulated him. "Good job, Dad. You didn't mess up," 11-year-old Sasha Obama told her father.

It was a low-key start to the first African-American US president's second term, which is likely to be dominated - at least at the start - by budget fights with Republicans and attempts to reform gun control and immigration laws.

Obama, 51, will be sworn in publicly on Monday outside the West Front of the Capitol overlooking the National Mall in front of as many as 800,000 people, a much bigger ceremony replete with a major address and a parade.

Downtown Washington was all but locked down with heavy security. Many streets were closed, lined with barricades. Police sirens blared. Outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, an elaborate presidential viewing stand encased in bullet-proof glass was set up for Obama and other VIPs to watch the parade.

Sunday's ceremony, shown live on television, was needed because the US Constitution mandates that the president take office on January 20. Planners opted to go with a private ceremony on the actual date and then hold the ceremonial inaugural activities the next day.

By Monday, Obama will have been sworn in four times, two for each term, putting him equal to Franklin Roosevelt, who won four terms. A second Obama swearing-in was deemed necessary in 2009 when Robertsflubbed the first one. On Sunday, Roberts read the oath carefully from a card and there were no mistakes.

Obama, who won a second four years on November 6 by defeating Republican Mitt Romney after a bitter campaign, opens round two facing many of the same problems that dogged his first term: persistently high unemployment, crushing government debt and a deep partisan divide over how to solve the issues.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

貝拉克?奧巴馬總統上周日在白宮舉行了一個小型私人儀式，正式宣誓就職，開始他的第二任期。相比他四年前就任總統的歷史性開端，這次就職典禮要低調得多。

在舉行儀式的白宮主樓層上，奧巴馬和家人一起聚集在藍廳里，將手放在一本家用圣經上，在美國首席大法官約翰?羅伯茨的高聲領誦下，誦讀35個詞的就職誓言。

在宣讀完誓言后，奧巴馬擁抱妻子米歇爾和女兒薩莎、瑪利亞，說，“我做到了。”在米歇爾祝賀他時，他對米歇爾說：“謝謝你，親愛的。”11歲的薩莎?奧巴馬告訴父親說：“爸爸，做得好。你沒有搞砸哦。”

作為歷史上首位非裔美籍的美國總統，奧巴馬第二任期的開端很低調。第二任期的大部分時間（至少在開頭），可能將被與共和黨的預算之爭、槍支管制改革和移民法的推進所占據。

現年51歲的奧巴馬將于周一在國會大廈西側公開宣誓就職。80萬人將在國會大廈俯瞰下的國家廣場觀看奧巴馬的就職典禮，奧巴馬將在這個盛大得多的典禮上發表重要講話，還將舉行閱兵儀式。

華盛頓市中心已經被嚴密的保安系統重重包圍。許多街道都被禁止通行，并在街道兩邊設置了路障。街上轟鳴著警笛。白宮外的賓夕法尼亞大道上精心搭建了一個用防彈玻璃墻包圍起來的總統觀禮臺，讓奧巴馬和其他重要領導人可以安全地在臺上觀看閱兵儀式。

周日的宣誓儀式將實時在電視上直播，之所以舉行這一儀式是因為美國憲法規定總統必須在1月20日這天就職。策劃者選擇在20日當天舉行私人儀式，然后在第二天舉行正式的就職典禮活動。

到周一那天，奧巴馬將宣誓就職四次，每個任期宣誓兩次，這將使他的宣誓次數和連任四屆總統的富蘭克林?羅斯福持平。2009年奧巴馬有必要第二次宣誓就職是因為羅伯茨在第一次宣誓領誦時出了錯。上周日，羅伯茨看著卡片小心翼翼地領誦誓詞，結果沒有出錯。

在激烈的競選中打敗共和黨人米特?羅姆尼后，奧巴馬于去年11月6日贏得了第二個四年任期，從此將和第一任期遇到的許多老問題展開第二輪對決：居高不下的失業率、堆積如山的政府債務和關于如何解決問題的嚴重黨派分歧。