Official schedule for the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama
Official Schedule for the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, Jan. 20, 2009:
The ceremony will commence at 7 a.m. Pacific on the west front of the U.S. Capitol and will include:
• Musical selections: U.S. Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
• Call to order and welcoming remarks: Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
• Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren.
• Musical selection: Aretha Franklin.
• Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be sworn into office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens.
• Musical selection: John Williams, composer-arranger, with Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet).
• President-elect Obama will take the oath of office using President Lincoln's inaugural Bible, administered by the chief justice of the United States, John G. Roberts Jr. (For an amazing historical view of that inauguration day when that Abraham Lincoln Bible was first used, click on the "Read more" line below.)
• Inaugural address.
• Poem: Elizabeth Alexander.
• Benediction: the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery.
• The National Anthem: U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters
After President Obama gives his inaugural address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The 56th inaugural parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House with groups traveling from all over the country to participate.
Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host 10 official inaugural balls.
The Ticket's past items on the upcoming inauguration are available here. Check back regularly as we will be updating whenever appropriate and, of course, covering the events as they unfold, including providing a full speech text asap. You don't need an inaugural ticket to read The Ticket.
-- Andrew Malcolm
If Obama and Biden registered here for cellphone alerts to each new Ticket item, they wouldn't be late for their own swearing-in ceremony come Jan. 20. RSS feeds are also available here. And we're on Amazon's Kindle now too.
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Photo credit: General Photographic Agency / Getty Images
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Hey L.A. Times. Better check you photo description. Every school child is drilling with the fact that Lincoln was the 16th President, not the 14th!!! Somebody owes Franklin Pierce an apology.
Posted by: Jeff | January 16, 2009 at 07:59 AM
May God blkess you and your administration, Mr. President.
HE/SHE certainly did not bless the Moron.
Posted by: Nelson | January 19, 2009 at 09:59 AM
January 20, 2009 is a day I have long waited for -- it is Bushie Jr.'s last day in office. Finally this incompetent yet arrogant little man will be gone from public life for good. I don't know if Obama is the answer but he can't be worse than Junior. Good riddance!
Posted by: Agnostic Free Thinker | January 19, 2009 at 03:37 PM