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ship that a cat can provide individually and as a family."
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A more sober mood, but enthusiasm remains for many as Obama is sworn in for second time
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Schoolteacher Patricia Cooper gazed out at the many hundreds of thousands of people lining the National Mall, moments after Barack Obama had been sworn in for the second time as president.
• "The media kept saying there were going to be so many fewer people," said Cooper, 51, from Upper Marlboro, Md. "But look out there!" she beamed. "We still have a pretty big crowd."
• True, the crowd was roughly half that of Obama's momentous inauguration in 2009, and the sense of history, and pure excitement, far less potent. But despite a more sober national mood, there was plenty of enthusiasm -- even among people who'd been there the first time, like Cooper -- and oh yes, star power, as the capital threw its marathon, once-every-four-years party.
• "I was there last time, and I was just so proud to be here again this time," Cooper said. "And the weather was great!"
• It was a warmer day indeed, with a noon temperature of 40 degrees. And if the day was balmier, it seemed its whole aura was mellower, too, with not only the president but his whole family looser than four years ago. Malia and Sasha, no longer adorable little girls but rather stylish young women, chatted on the podium, showing how comfortable they'd become after four years in the public spotlight, and Michelle Obama sported a hip new haircut: blunt-cut bangs. Even Chief Justice John Roberts seemed more relaxed; well, he breezed through the oath of office that he had stumbled over four years ago.
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Fresh challenges await Obama as he embarks on first working day of second term
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four years ago, President Barack Obama and his staff spent the first day in the White House learning the basics. Not just the basics of governing, but also figuring out how to get cleared into their offices by the Secret Service, log on to their government computers and find keys to unlock office drawers.
• They solved those problems long ago. Also in the rearview mirror are the economic recession, the Iraq war and the hunt for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.
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