Obama kicks up his heels after inauguration

The new US president pulled his First Lady close as they glided through their first inaugural dance to the Etta James classic At Last.

The Neighborhood Ball at Washington's Convention Centre was the first of 10 inaugural celebrations that Barack Obama and wife Michelle planned to attend on Tuesday night (US time).

"First of all, how good-looking is my wife?" the president said of Michelle Obama, who wore a white, one-shouldered, floor-length gown designed by Jason Wu.

The couple danced a slow two-step while Beyonce sang At Last off stage.

Barack Obama, dressed in white tie, at one point spun the First Lady in a half-turn, to the applause of an appreciative audience.

The president cut loose in a faster groove a few minutes later, as Shakria, Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill and Mariah Carey sang along with Stevie Wonder to his Sign, Sealed, Delivered.

The pair were kicking up their heels after a day of pomp and ceremony in the nation's capital.

Barack Obama this morning took the oath of office to become the first black president in US history, proclaiming America had chosen "hope over fear" and must unite in a "new era of responsibility" to triumph over its multiple crises.

Witnessed by a huge crowd of more than two million people in an unprecedented endorsement of a new leader, Obama, 47, became the 44th President of the United States as he took the oath of office at the US Capitol.

"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President of the United States faithfully and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help me God," said Obama, sparking a massive roar from the crowd and a 21-gun salute.

In his inaugural address, Obama gave notice that an era of economic "greed and irresponsibility" was over as he pledged swift and bold action to kickstart the world's biggest economy.

"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. “

He also said the United States would join other nations in rolling back "the spectre of a warming planet". (Watch Obama sign his first executive order)

Many among the crowd on the National Mall, estimated by the Washington Post at two million people, wept as the new president spoke.
(Read more: Black Americans rejoice)

"We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America," Obama told a nation locked in the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

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Cold walk home

Later in the morning, Obama and his wife twice stepped from of the amoured presidential car Cadillac One and out onto Pennsylvania Avenue to walk down the route taking them to the White House.

They were greeted by chilly but otherwise perfect, sky-blue weather, and thousands of wildly cheering and waving wellwishers who lined both sides of the broad avenue behind metal barricades for a glimpse of their first African-American commander in chief.

Obama, clad in a sleek black overcoat and maroon scarf, and his wife, wearing a glittering gold dress, matching coat and green gloves, walked hand in hand well in front of their limousine, but with secret service agents just steps behind and military and police lining the route.

Their open-air promenade lasted about eight minutes and a few hundred metres, as they walked past federal buildings, offices and downtown plazas before ducking back into their heavily armoured Cadillac.

As the first lady entered the White House with the president and the couple's daughters Sasha and Malia, she told a friend: "We're here. We're home."

'Greatness must be earned'

The new president also used his inaugural address to send an immediate message to the rest of the world, and Islamic nations, after eight years in which have seen America's ties with some of its top allies tarnished, especially after the Iraq War.

"America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

"We understand that greatness is never a given, it must be earned."

But he also warned that those who would use "terror" and slaughter innocents to threaten the United States would face an uncompromising response.

"We say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

"Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," Obama said.

He also signaled a sharp shift from Bush administration anti-terror policies which critics say have comprised US ideals and the constitution.

"As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

He said that the United States would begin to "responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard earned peace in Afghanistan.