Echoing the post release title of the inaugural Star Wars film, Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States this morning, ushering in a new chapter in America’s manifest destiny together with a plea that the ideals of hope will and should supplant those of fear.
In an address designed to serve a global audience, the most telling subtext of the speech for me was simply this: although America faces many threats and enemies abroad, perhaps its greatest foe is America itself. The rallying cry for the people of the United States to forget their selfish ways of the past and to unite behind a new era of collective and personal responsbility is the single unifying theme the Obama administration will bring to the US and the world, and it will one of the biggest yardsticks he will be measured on in four years time.
By all accounts, on the strength of the campaign over the last 18 months and on the goodwill and excitement of today’s events, he is off to a magnificent start.
Here are some of the more memorable images of this historic day from the New York Times:
How much has the world been looking forward to seeing the end of George W?
No one does POMP like the Americans!
OK – I’m going to say it – what is WITH the HAT?
The Capitol Building at dusk and a swarm of Washington humanity below
