An even larger audience is forecast for the inauguration outside the Capitol on Tuesday, with estimates running into the millions. Agencies in charge of logistics and security said they would enforce a ban on personal auto traffic across the Potomac River bridges from Virginia into Washington and seal off a large portion of the downtown area. Access to buildings along the Inaugural parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue was limited to those who gained Secret Service approval in advance.
Crowds gather on the Mall looking toward the Washington Monument for the "We Are One" Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington January 18, 2009. [Agencies]
Obama's day began at the Tomb of he Unknowns at Arlington National cemetery, where he and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden laid a wreath in memory of fallen heroes. The two men placed their hands over their hearts as a uniformed bugler played taps in a somber opening to a festive day.
The scene was quite different at the church a few miles away, where the congregation erupted in applause when Obama and his family walked to their seats.
"Understand that God has prepared you, and God has placed you, and God will not forsake you," Harkins told the incoming president.
Children sang and spoke selected readings that recalled King, killed in 1968.
"Martin Luther King walked so that Barack Obama could run," said one boy. "Barack Obama ran so that all children could fly," added another, standing a few feet away from the first African-American ever elected president.
At the Lincoln Memorial a few hours later, King's son, Martin Luther King III, had a brief speaking role.
For the most part, the program was a festival of music, the songs chosen to make their points. Mary J. Blige sang, "Lean on Me," Springsteen performed "The Rising," and Obama mouthed the words as 89-year-old Pete Seeger pitched in with "This Land is Your Land."
Many in the crowd sang along with Beyonce's soulful finale, "America the Beautiful."
A child holds a flag with a picture of US President-elect Barack Obama as she attends the We Are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration, held in honor of US President-elect Barack Obama, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington January 18, 2009. [Agencies]
In film clips at earlier moments, Obama was cast as heir to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and even Lincoln, who the president-elect said was "the man who in so many ways made this day possible."
As Obama moved around town in a pre-inaugural motorcade, his aides blanketed Sunday's interview programs.
With the nation facing the most difficult economic crisis since the Great Depression, they all agreed that recovery was the principal challenge facing the new president.
"What's important ... is ensuring that those that have had the short end of the stick for the last few years -- make sure that they get the help that they need, that this administration begins to create the jobs and give some financial stability to families so that they can feel hopeful about going forward," said Robert Gibbs, who will serve as Obama's White House press secretary.
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