Day of renewal for US values

The president and first lady Michelle Obama walked along part of the parade route yesterday. In his speech, Obama said his success was an indication of America's progress and its promise. (CHARLES DHARAPAK/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's election broke a color barrier. His stirring inaugural address yesterday proved something else that his heroes Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. had always insisted would be true: That advancing equality can give new force to America's core values.

The new president's speech touched many familiar bases in citing America's history of liberty and justice, replete with references to Gettysburg and Valley Forge, but the power of the spokesman made it memorable, and important.

Obama showed that the good feeling engendered by his inauguration, an unprecedented pageant that unfurled across the nation's capital, is the nation's reward for decades of struggle by people of many races, a moment of unity born out of a bitter past.

And it is a reward he intends to share with others. He vowed to carry America's promise across the world, and to use it against the gathering threats of the moment: war, terrorism, and economic decline. Given his status as the son of an African immigrant, Obama's vow had a distinctly different character than the similar one made by his predecessor.

"This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can stand before you to take a most sacred oath," he declared.

The rest of the speech touched on themes of Obama's campaign, such as the need to cast aside "petty grievances and false promises," and the necessity of public accountability: "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."

But his encoded message was that government would clearly grow during his tenure, and that his chosen measure of success is not a balanced budget - which he did not mention - but "to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day."

In a time of need, Obama said, it was important to act.

"There are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans," he said. "Their memories are short. They have forgotten what this country has already done - what free men and women can achieve."

As Obama gazed out at the crowd, with his head cocked upward in a gesture of confidence and wisdom - just like John F. Kennedy's 48 years ago - he saw his largest group of supporters yet.

More than any recent president, Obama ascended to power on the outstretched arms of crowds. Their sheer size was what first identified him as a serious presidential contender. Their enthusiasm was what separated him from his Democratic primary rival, Hillary Clinton. And they quickly became a metaphor for the whole Obama phenomenon.

People filled a football stadium to hear his nomination acceptance speech in Denver last summer, and their serious faces - so different from the usual convention assemblage, more like a church group than political ralliers - staked his claim to the hearts of grassroots America.

The million-plus who were in Washington yesterday sought to consecrate his administration, delivering a mandate to bring stability to a nation mired in war, conflict, and distress.

The crowd drew its energy from three strands of emotion, any one of which would have been enough to make this an inaugural for the ages.

First were those in tangible fear for their economic future - with big payments due in a few months, with layoffs scheduled at the office, with demand letters in the mailbox.

Second were the African-Americans and millions of other people of all races who were emotionally engaged in the civil rights struggle, ready finally to celebrate an event that encompassed all the small victories along the way.

Third were the millions more who had chafed at George W. Bush's war policies, treatment of detainees, emphasis on faith over expertise, and other aspects of his divisive administration.

The big crowd's happiness was such that almost any inaugural address would probably have been greeted warmly. But Obama chose to give his supporters a patriotic pep talk, hoping to validate their enthusiasm by tying it ever more deeply to American history.

From a man who campaigned on change, Obama's declaration that his own historic rise is in full accord with America's past is an act of generosity - one that could give his whole country a new burst of strength.