President Obama Addressing Congress About Health Care Reform

President Obama Chats With Congressmen Aboard Air Force One

President Obama Onboard Air Force One

President Obama Boards Air Force One

President Obama makes a phone call from the White House Oval Office immediately after his inauguration.

New President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

President Barack Obama receives a thumbs up from his daughter after his inaugural speech.

President Barack Obama was forced to re-take his oath of office as President on Wednesday night inside the White House after Chief Justice Roberts flubbed the administration of the oath of office to Obama at the inaugural ceremony.

The Obama dance with Michelle Obama in her inaugural gown at one of the inaugural balls on the evening of January 20, 2009 - inauguration evening.

Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2009 before a crowd of over one million people.

The swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the west front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. at noon on January 20, 2009 before a crowd of over a million people.

Obama Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

President Barack Obama's inaugural celebration is occuring now!!!

In the past, when living U.S. Presidents have gathered, it has typically been because of a state funeral or the opening of a Presidential library. On Wednesday, January 7, 2009, however, all of the living American Presidents along with President-elect Obama gathered for a luncheon meeting at the White House. From left to right, these included George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.

A historic meeting of all the living Presidents and President-elect Obama occurred at the White House on Wednesday, January 7, 2008. From left to right, the meeting include President George H. W. Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, and President Jimmy Carter.

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT - On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as our nation's 44th President. He will be the first African-American and individual born in Hawaii to be elected President. With a beautiful and gracious wife, Michelle Obama, and two beautiful young daughters, he should bring the same youthfulness and sense of opportunity that John Kennedy brought to the White House. See you at the inauguration and look for future blog posts about his presidency!!!

GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT - George W. Bush was sworn in as our 43rd President on January 20, 2001 after a contested election against the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore. Ultimately, the election was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court which stopped a recount of the votes in Florida. In his first year in office, Bush was confronted with the tragedy of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center towers in New York and against the Pentagon in the Washington, D.C. area. In response to these terrorist attacks, President Bush declared a war on terror and ordered the invasion of Afghanistan and later of Iraq. With popular support as a war-time President and a conservative shift in the mood of the country, Bush was re-elected to a second term of office four years later. In his second term, however, Bush faced increasingly low rankings in the public opinion polls as support for the war in Iraq diminished and the economy worsened. At the end of his two terms as President, Bush had one of the lowest public opinion poll rankings of any President since such polls have been conducted as the financial and banking system in the country went into a melt-down as a result of a collapse of the housing market, and as mortgage-backed securities increasingly became illiquid. President Bush was the second President to be elected that was the son of a previous President, with his father George H.W. Bush having been the 41st President of the United States. The only other President that was the son of a previous President was John Quincy Adams. As an outgoing President, Bush made a commitment to make the transition of his successor, Barack Obama, the easiest of any President-Elect.

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT - On January 20, 1993, Bill Clinton was inaugurated as our nation's 42nd President. Four years later, he was re-elected to a second term. He was the second President, along with Andrew Johnson, to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. Like Andrew Johnson, however, the motivations for impeachment were primarily political and thus Clinton was not convicted and removed from office by the Senate. At the end of his presidency, Clinton continued to enjoy strong public support. As President, Clinton presided over the greatest peace time economic prosperity in the history of the country. After his presidency, Clinton has gone on to become one of, if not, the most influential world spokesman raising funds and working for world humanitarian causes. Meanwhile, his wife and former First Lady Hillary Clinton was elected as a U.S. Senator from New York, the only former First Lady to run for political office. In 2008, she ran for the Democratic nomination for President, but lost the nomination to Barack Obama. She and former President Clinton then compaigned for Obama in the general election. After Obama's election as President, he announced that he would appoint former First Lady Hillary Clinton to the position of Secretary of State.

GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, 41ST PRESIDENT - George H.W. Bush was sworn in as our nation's 41st President on January 20, 1989. Previously, he had served as Vice President under President Reagan. Before that he had served as a Congressman, as the U.S. representative to China, and as Director of te Central Intellgence Agency. As such, he was one of the most experienced individuals in foreign policy to ever be elected President. This experience was demonstrated when, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush was able to organize a large coalition of countries to join the United States in forcing the military forces of Iraq out of Kuwait. Bush could have continued the Gulf War and directed U.S. forces to continue to Baghdad so as to oust Saddam Hussein, but chose not to do so since such a move would have both created a power vacuum in Iraq and would have cost U.S. support from its other Arab allies, such as Saudi Arabia. After the Gulf War, Bush's popularity was one of the highest of any President, but it increasingly fell afterwards as the economy worsened and the public did not feel that Bush was in touch with the economic problems of the country. As such, President Bush was defeated in his re-election attempt by his Democratic challenger, Bill Clinton. Ironically, Bush's son, George W. Bush was elected President after the two terms of Bill Clinton. During his son's presidency, the senior George W. Bush worked with former President Clinton to address a number of humanitarian relief efforts.

RONALD REAGAN, 41ST PRESIDENT - Ronald Reagan was sworn in as our nation's 41st President on January 20, 1981. Minutes later, Iran announced that they had released the American hostages that they had held ever since President Carter had allowed the former Shah of Iran into the United States in order to receive medical treatment for his cancer. Reagan's swearing-in was the first time that a Presidential inauguration was held on the West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol. Known as the "Great Communicator", Reagan along with John Kennedy often tops public opinion polls as the best U.S. President. This is compared to polls of historians that typically list George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt as the top three presidents. Reagan assumed the office of President at a time of low public morale because of high inflation, frustration over the Iran hostage situation, and the recent Arab oil embargo which had caused gas rationing in America. Reagan was elected based upon his promise of renewed optimism in America along with a shift towards conservative values and restraining the spending of government. Ironically, while Reagan's foreign policies helped bring about the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, his military spending on the Star Wars and other programs caused government spending and the federal deficit to skyrocket. Reagan is the only movie star to be elected President. He survived an assassination attempt shortly after his election to his first term in office that almost cost him his life, but went on to serve to two terms as President. After he publicly took responsibility for the trading of arms for hostages in his second term in office, or what is known as the Iran-Contra scandal, the publicly forgave him. As a result, the media often referred to Reagan as having a "teflon factor" where the public so liked him that he could overcome criticisms that other President would have difficulty in dealing with. Part of this ability can be attributed to the way that Reagan seemed able to talk directly to the public in moments of shared celebration, such as the bicentennial of the Statue of Liberty, or in moments of tragedy, such as the Challenger space shuttle disaster.