The historic Inauguration of President Barack Obama  is the subject of a special TIME Magazine commemorative issue.  See the cover, photos, video, and article excerpts from the February 2, 2009 vol. 173 No. 4 issue.

Joe Klein’s cover story addressed both the Inauguration day and the tasks before the new President and the steps he has already taken.  Here is an excerpt analyzing the Obama Inaugural address.  The full article is online.

[T]he tone of the speech was not defiant or angry, or celebratory, for that matter. It was resolute, suffused with sobriety, reflecting a tough-minded realism at home and abroad. Obama made clear that his domestic liberalism would be enacted conservatively. Where government programs can help, he said, “we intend to move forward.” If they are useless or outdated, “programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day.” Overseas, he warned, “those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents … You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”

Note the simplicity of the words. This is a different Obama from the one who, full of himself last winter, filled his speeches with gaseous oratory like “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” The personal transformation has been gradual, subtle — and the words have grown simpler as the economy collapsed and the full weight of office began to press in on him. The preternatural calm that seemed an attractive part of his personality during the primaries became his dominant trait in the general election — and the defining principle of his transition. He seems, in the modesty of his rhetoric, to have embarked on a rather bold experiment. “This is going to be a general principle of governing,” he told CNN’s John King. “No spin, play it straight, describe to the American people the state that we’re in.”

And that was the oddest aspect of Obama’s transition, the lack of pomp and bombast to it. He rarely used the word I; he addressed the nation as a community of mature adults. He was all modesty; he asked for better ideas for his monumental stimulus plan (and quickly acceded to Democratic demands that he remove some of the tax breaks for small businesses). He seemed, at every turn, to predict that he would make mistakes; he did so once more at the congressional lunch immediately after he was sworn in. The cumulative effort of this behavior has been to convey a sense of seriousness — not just in his own personal aspect but also in the work of his team. In gestation, this was an Administration marked by attention to detail and a deep appreciation of the intricacies of governance.

Source: Obama Promises New Destiny, Work Begins Today

TIME Magazine has extensive photo galleries of the Obama Inauguration.  Above and below are some of the photographs taken by TIME photographer Callie Shell who has been photographing Obama since 2004.  The photographs feature President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, their daughters Sasha and Malia, as well as Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Dr. Jill Biden, and former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush, and Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne V. Cheney.  They give us an intimate glimpse behind the scenes as the historic day unfolded.

To see many more photos, see the online photo galleries on the TIME magazine Web site:

•  Behind the Scenes on Obama’s Big Day (Callie Shell photos)
•  Barack Obama’s Inauguration (Photo essay)

Here is video of an interview with TIME.com managing editor Josh Tyrangiel discussing the photography in the magazine’s special Inaugural commemorative issue. More Inauguration Day pictures below.

Video Link

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President Barack Obama Time Magazine Commemorative Edition Cover, Photos, February 2, 2009 Inauguration Issue