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| Barack Obama inauguration style: more confident, greyer, but still cool | Barack Obama inauguration style: more confident, greyer, but still cool |
| (2 months later) | |
| Four years on, what has Barack H Obama – as the announcer had it – learned about inaugurations? To be a bit more dispatchful, certainly. A little more confident, arrogant, even, repeating the lines back impatiently and with his head thrown back, like an acting student who has learned his lines perfectly well and needs no prompting from his coach, thank you very much. Yet even though this was – due to vagaries of dates and mishaps – his fourth inauguration, there was still what shall be known as the Obama Stumble: last time the US supreme court chief justice and consequently Obama stumbled so badly during the presidential oath that he had to retake it, this time he made just a little trip of the tongue which he characteristically styled out with a brisk smile. Obama may not take home the prize for oath-taking, but he is undoubtedly the coolest president America's ever had. | Four years on, what has Barack H Obama – as the announcer had it – learned about inaugurations? To be a bit more dispatchful, certainly. A little more confident, arrogant, even, repeating the lines back impatiently and with his head thrown back, like an acting student who has learned his lines perfectly well and needs no prompting from his coach, thank you very much. Yet even though this was – due to vagaries of dates and mishaps – his fourth inauguration, there was still what shall be known as the Obama Stumble: last time the US supreme court chief justice and consequently Obama stumbled so badly during the presidential oath that he had to retake it, this time he made just a little trip of the tongue which he characteristically styled out with a brisk smile. Obama may not take home the prize for oath-taking, but he is undoubtedly the coolest president America's ever had. |
| The experienced president is a sterner looking man than the somewhat starry-eyed young senator who walked up on the podium four years ago, swapping the cheerful red tie from before with a more solemn blue this time round. He also appears to have aged in dog years: every international mission is etched into his skin, the battles with the Republicans have powdered his black hair to grey. But what he's lost in youthful looks he's gained in confidence, not just in the boldness of his speech but in his easy manner up on stage, clowning around with "Uncle" Joe Biden, a man so dorky it's a testament to Obama's control that he has never been photographed rolling his eyes behind Biden's back. | The experienced president is a sterner looking man than the somewhat starry-eyed young senator who walked up on the podium four years ago, swapping the cheerful red tie from before with a more solemn blue this time round. He also appears to have aged in dog years: every international mission is etched into his skin, the battles with the Republicans have powdered his black hair to grey. But what he's lost in youthful looks he's gained in confidence, not just in the boldness of his speech but in his easy manner up on stage, clowning around with "Uncle" Joe Biden, a man so dorky it's a testament to Obama's control that he has never been photographed rolling his eyes behind Biden's back. |
| With his family, too, Obama was cool, in both senses of the word, giving his wife a quick pat on the back after taking the oath as opposed to hugging her and looking into her eyes for reassurance like last time. Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, have also grown in their own distinctive and distinctively adolescent ways. Last time round, Malia, then 10 years old, looked a little overwhelmed by the occasion; this time, she did a shoulder shrugging hip hop dance when her mother appeared and looked like she was having a lot more fun. Sasha giggled sweetly last time round but now just looked bored as only an 11-year-old can. As for Michelle, she looked as self-contained, proud and impressive as ever. She is the one unchanged Obama, save for the new haircut. No wonder her husband – confident he may well be – still reached out to hold her waist as they walked back inside. | With his family, too, Obama was cool, in both senses of the word, giving his wife a quick pat on the back after taking the oath as opposed to hugging her and looking into her eyes for reassurance like last time. Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, have also grown in their own distinctive and distinctively adolescent ways. Last time round, Malia, then 10 years old, looked a little overwhelmed by the occasion; this time, she did a shoulder shrugging hip hop dance when her mother appeared and looked like she was having a lot more fun. Sasha giggled sweetly last time round but now just looked bored as only an 11-year-old can. As for Michelle, she looked as self-contained, proud and impressive as ever. She is the one unchanged Obama, save for the new haircut. No wonder her husband – confident he may well be – still reached out to hold her waist as they walked back inside. |
| • This article was amended on 22 January 2013 to clarify that Obama stumbled over the oath in 2009 as a consequence of the US supreme court chief justice having done so. | • This article was amended on 22 January 2013 to clarify that Obama stumbled over the oath in 2009 as a consequence of the US supreme court chief justice having done so. |
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