President Barack Obama begins second term

The Democratic president stood with first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, as he took the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. using the first lady's family Bible.

The president hugged his wife and said, “Thanks, sweetie.” Sasha told him, “Good job, Daddy,” and Obama replied, “I did it.”

The formal ceremony, held just before noon Sunday and lasting about a minute, was necessary to fulfill the U.S. Constitution's requirement for presidential terms to begin on Jan. 20.

Obama will repeat the oath Monday at the U.S. Capitol in front of hundreds of thousands of people; Roberts, whose flub of the oath at the 2009 inaugural ceremony led to a “do-over” the next day at the White House, also will deliver the ceremonial oath Monday before the president gives his second inauguraladdress.

A few hours before Obama's second term began, Vice President Joe Biden took his oath of office, administered by Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the Naval Observatory, in front of about 120 people, mostly family and friends.

Obama, 51, the nation's first black president, and Biden, 70, laid a wreath earlier Sunday at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

A few members of the Obamas' extended families, including the president's two half-sisters and the first lady's mother and brother, were present at the swearing-in.

‘Hopeful' speech coming

David Plouffe, one of the president's chief political strategists, said Sunday on CNN that the president will give a “hopeful” speech Monday and “remind the country that our founding principles and values still can guide us in a changing and modern world.”