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January 22, 2013 George Washington invoked the Almighty, but the word "God" wasn't used in an inaugural address until James Monroe. Since then, few presidents have missed the opportunity to put God in their inaugural speeches.

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January 21, 2013 The inaugural ball is sort of a strange event — it's not really fancy, but everyone treats it like it is. People are determined to have the experience be special, even if the surroundings aren't.

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January 21, 2013 Though wrung of much of the drama of his historic first inauguration, President Obama's efficient, specific and, at times, soaring address outshone his first with allusions to Lincoln, King and Kennedy. Speech experts and presidential historians weigh in on Obama's words and delivery.

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January 21, 2013 As he walked up the steps and back into the Capitol today following his inaugural address, President Obama stoppedand turned around to look back. "I want to take a look," he could be heard saying, because "I'm not going to see this again."

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January 21, 2013 President Obama began his second term with an unapologetically liberal inaugural address, calling on Americans to work together to preserve entitlements, address climate change and extend civil rights. Conservative and libertarian observers noted an "aggressive" approach to the speech.

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January 21, 2013 "That is our generation's task — to make these words, these rights, these values — of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — real for every American," President Barack Obama said during his speech.

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January 21, 2013 Join "It's All Politics" blogger Frank James and other NPR journalists to talk about the day's events and the issues coming up in President Obama's second term.

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January 21, 2013 See what NPR users want President Obama to remember in his second term — then send us your own thoughts. And chat with NPR reporters about the day's events and the issues looming in Obama's second term.

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January 21, 2013 Unlike with his first swearing-in, Barack Obama does not face two ongoing wars and an economy on the verge of collapse. But thorny issues remain, and there's less hope than there was four years ago that Obama can bend Washington to his will.

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January 21, 2013 "Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness," he says. "But it does require us to act in our time."

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