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The inauguration of Barack Obama

The inauguration
of Barack Obama

News, photos, and multimedia features on the inauguration of the country's 44th president.

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Political Intelligence
Top Pentagon weapons buyer to Congress: Justify not cutting programs
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff WASHINGTON -- Ashton B. Carter, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, is the Pentagon's top acquisition official...
Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

A seven-part series on the Massachusetts senator.
Inauguration photos
THE BIG PICTURE

Inauguration photos

Photos from the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
The lens of 9/11
VIDEO

The lens of 9/11

How Sept. 11 shaped George W. Bush's presidency.
Inauguration timeline
Interactive

Inauguration timeline

Highlights throughout history.
What Obama means
Audio slideshow

What Obama means

Barack Obama's place in African-American US history.
Front pages

Front pages

See how newspapers around the world played Obama's inauguration.
Where to get the special edition
Mass. election 2008
RESULTS

Mass. election 2008

Full results, including town-by-town data, of the ballot questions and local races.
News from The Politico
Stories from The Politico, a national publication covering the politics of Capitol Hill, lobbying, and the presidential campaign.

Latest Politics News

Colors could disappear from terror alert system

The Obama administration has begun a review that could spell the end of the color-coded terrorism advisories, long derided by late night TV comics and portrayed by some Democrats as a tool for Bush administration political manipulation. (Associated Press Writer, 12:48 a.m.)

Sotomayor pushes back hard on racial bias charges

Sonia Sotomayor pushed back vigorously Tuesday against Republican charges that she would bring bias and a liberal agenda to her seat as the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court, insisting repeatedly she would be impartial as GOP senators tried to undercut her with her own words from past speeches. (Associated Press Writer, 12:26 a.m.)

White House turns up heat on Arizona senator

The Obama administration is firing back at Sen. Jon Kyl for calling for an end to economic stimulus spending, and it's aiming where it hurts the most -- at home in Arizona. (Associated Press Writer, 12:26 a.m.)

AP sources: House lays groundwork for CIA probe

The CIA spent at least $1 million on the secret intelligence program that aimed to develop hit squads to kill al-Qaida leaders but never went beyond the planning stage, a congressional official said Tuesday. (Associated Press Writer, 12:26 a.m.)

House rolls out plan to make health care a right

House Democrats on Tuesday rolled out a far-reaching $1.5 trillion plan that for the first time would make health care a right and a responsibility for all Americans, with medical providers, employers and the wealthiest picking up most of the tab. (Associated Press Writers, 12:25 a.m.)

Pressure grows for Obama to leap into healthcare fray

WASHINGTON - Even while delivering impassioned speeches and trying to light a rhetorical fire under Congress, President Obama has stayed away from the politically treacherous question of how to pay the nearly trillion-dollar cost of healthcare overhaul. (Globe Staff, 12 a.m.)

News from the Washington Bureau

Shifting Afghan loyalties test US bid for permanent gains

WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan - During the day, US soldiers and their Afghan allies set up checkpoints here along Highway One, halting traffic for hours to search for explosives and evidence of Taliban connections. (Globe Staff, 7/14/09)

Sotomayor hearing has cordial start, followed by political push-and-pull

WASHINGTON - There was a feeling of good will when Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor entered a filled-to-capacity Senate hearing room yesterday: the loud buzz of conversation fell to a hush, and she grinned at relatives sitting in the crowd as she took her seat at the witness table. (Globe Staff, 7/14/09)

In Sotomayor hearings, GOP seeking to send message to Obama

WASHINGTON - When hearings begin today on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court, Republicans on the Senate committee plan to portray her as apart from the mainstream on racial issues - a strategy intended to send a message to President Obama in deciding future nominations: Think twice before picking a liberal. (Globe Staff, 7/13/09)

Democrats, Obama disagree on F-22 spending

WASHINGTON - From the economic recovery plan to healthcare reform and creating clean-energy jobs, Representative Paul Hodes has been among President Obama’s staunchest supporters in Congress. (Globe Staff, 7/12/09)

Mass. health overhaul offers lessons for US program

WASHINGTON - A fear that employers will drop private coverage and dump their workers onto federally subsidized health plans is a major concern among lawmakers crafting healthcare legislation on Capitol Hill, leading House Democrats to propose stiff financial penalties for businesses that don’t contribute to employee premiums. (Globe Staff, 7/10/09)

Liberian’s war-crimes testimony may shed light on Plymouth jailbreak

WASHINGTON - It has been a mystery for more than two decades how Charles G. Taylor, Liberia’s former president, broke out of Plymouth County Correctional Facility in 1985, starting a journey that ultimately made him one of Africa’s most notorious strongmen. (Globe Staff, 7/10/09)

In health bill, billions for parks, paths

WASHINGTON - Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets. (Globe Staff, 7/9/09)
Reporter's notebook

To a young reporter, McNamara was a plain-spoken observer of US affairs

WASHINGTON - To a reporter fresh out of college hired to cover the Pentagon for a little-known newsletter, Robert S. McNamara was nearly a mythical figure. (Globe Staff, 7/7/09)

More female veterans are winding up homeless

WASHINGTON - The number of female service members who have become homeless after leaving the military has jumped dramatically in recent years, according to new government estimates, presenting the Veterans Administration with a challenge as it struggles to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. (Globe Staff, 7/5/09)

Healthcare overhaul could limit tax breaks on benefits

WASHINGTON - For the secretaries and environmental engineers, game wardens and van drivers who work for the state of New Hampshire, surgery is free, even at Boston’s top teaching hospitals if it’s necessary. So are MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays. (Globe Staff, 7/4/09)