ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Finally this hour, we'll take a moment to reflect on the historic day in Washington, D.C., a day of celebration that was filled with the pomp and ceremony that marks a new administration every four years.
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
It was also marked by the incredible excitement and unprecedented crowds that came with the swearing in of this president, Barack Hussein Obama, the first African-American to lead the United States. It was also a solemn day. The nation faces many problems, an economy in distress and wars on two fronts. Barack Obama called this a moment that will define a generation.
SIEGEL: The message from the new president today was one of hope and determination.
(SOUNDBITE OF INAUGURAL ADDRESS)
BARACK OBAMA: What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world. Duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
SIEGEL: President Barack Obama speaking today after he was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
BLOCK: You're listening to All Things Considered from NPR News.