Yesterday we ran a schedule for today’s inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Here’s an updated schedule:
» 8:25 a.m.: Obamas leave Blair House for prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church
» 8:35 a.m.: Prayer service
» 9:45 a.m.: Church service ends; Obamas leave for the White House
» 10:05 a.m.: Obamas arrive at White House for coffee with Bushes
» 11 a.m.: Motorcade leaves for Capitol
» 11:30 a.m.: Bushes and Obamas go to platform on the West Front; California Senator Dianne Feinstein issues call to order and deliver brief welcoming remarks, followed by invocation from Dr. Rick Warren and performance by Aretha Franklin.
» 11:50 a.m.: Joe Biden sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice John Stevens
» 12 p.m.: Barack Obama sworn in as president by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
» 12:05 p.m.: Inaugural address, followed by a poem written and recited by Elizabeth Alexander and a benediction from Dr. Joseph Lowery.
» 12:30 p.m.: Ceremony concludes
» 12:35 p.m.: Bush departs via helicopter; Cheney departs by limo
» 12:45 p.m.: Obama signs inauguration papers in President’s Room
» 1:00 p.m.: Obama attends congressional luncheon
» 2:15 p.m.: Obama and Biden review troops at Capitol
» 2:30 p.m.: President Obama leads parade from the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House
» 3:15 p.m.: Arrival at White House
» 3:45 p.m.: Obamas and Bidens proceed to the reviewing stand; inaugural parade continues until 6 p.m.
» 7 p.m.: The official inaugural balls begin with the Neighborhood Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.