Inauguration reflections from a DePaul alum

A man selling flags near capital hill, moments before Obama takes his oath of office.

Written by Matt Monahan, a 2008 DePaul University Alum and a past editor for The DePaulia's National/Global section.

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

With these stirring words from George Washington, Barack Obama came to the penultimate moment of his inaugural address. Choosing to reference the nation's founder said volumes about the challenges Obama sees as he takes office, the importance of avoiding partisan, "childish" fights and more importantly, viewing his election to the presidency as an affirmation that challenges seemingly so great and enduring as to be set in stone, can and will be overcome by the values and spirit of sacrifice etched into the fabric of American history.

The challenge for any inaugural address is not to deliver an immediately immortalized catch phrase, but to explain and introduce your approach to government and the moment as you see it, all while respecting and incorporating the historical significance of the ritual by which the president is invested with his powers.

It is for that reason that I found myself sitting on the edge of my frozen seat on the Southwest lawn of the capital yesterday morning. Though the address had no headline grabbing lines or legacy establishing moments, it so stunningly captured the moment, reflected Obama's personal approach, and so effectively captured the spirit of American history and values essential to the transition of presidential power.

Obama's speech literally rang with the cadences of history, both of his own and that of country. In making his address so much about history, he tied his success not so much to his own achievements and ambition, but to generations of Americans whose self-sacrifice at Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe-Sahn, and whose dreaming in Selma and Washington D.C. made January 20th, 2009 possible.

And yet how telling it was that on a serene, sunlit morning, when millions gathered to watch him place his hand on the Lincoln Bible, Obama painted a picture of storm clouds

Facing an uncertain economic crisis and forced to deal with two unfinished conflicts stretching across the central and southern Asia, Obama echoed Churchill and Roosevelt while he reminded the American people of its role in ushering in the "gathering storm clouds."

Historical indeed that Obama would chastise the sea of people stretching before him, uninterrupted from the Capital lawn to the Doric columns surrounding the man to whom Obama most often draws comparison.

Rather than focus on what so many have labeled the "historical" nature of his election as the nation's first African-American president, Obama instead focused on the historical nature of the challenges we face, and reasons we face them.

In that way, Obama's speech sounded a bit like a teacher reprimanding his student body for logical inconsistencies in his or her homework, for elevating childish fights to unnecessary importance, for a clear failure to make sacrifices, and a shying away of hard work in hard times.

To my understanding, Obama's speech was less a critique of the administration whose architects sat near him, but rather of a collective failure of leadership on the part of every American who neglected to understand the limitations of our actions and perspective.

To my ears, he placed the failings of the Bush administration not in a Texas ranch compound, but in a misplaced American desire for richness and independence without heed for those around us.

He called us to take a part in our communities, to think about the ramifications of our actions both at home and abroad, and to understand that no explanation can excuse complacency or mismanagement in daunting times.

In many ways, Obama's first inaugural sounded a lot like a teacher handing out a syllabus on the first day of class as both an introduction to the year, and an invitation to participate in the process.

He told that crowd quite plainly that the president alone is not the solution, nor is he himself historically significant simply because of his race. Instead, Obama explained that his importance is as a model of sacrifice, hard-work, tradition and family. Moreover, those in the classroom will fill in the specifics of his class slowly as his term unfolds and only if they participate and take ownership over their work will anything come of his time in office.