It seems like only yesterday that First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage at the Inaugural Ball in that sparkling white gown and immediately made Jason Wu a household name. Four years later, at the Obamas' second and final inauguration, Michelle stunned in a long high-neck red Jason Wu gown with velvet details and an armful of sparkly bangles. She wore Jimmy Choo shoes, and a ring by Kimberly McDonald.

A .gif of Sasha Obama is becoming quite the viral smash, after the younger First Daughter was caught yawning during her father's inauguration speech. According to the Atlantic Wire, 11-year-old Sasha's mighty yawn was captured on camera Monday while President Obama was speaking about education policy. "No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people," the president had said, before pausing for applause.

Most kids get squeamish at the sight of their parents canoodling, but Sasha and Malia Obama love them some good parental PDA. While watching the Inauguration Day Parade on Monday, the First Daughters got President and Michelle Obama to pose for a quick kiss -- and captured it on their cell phones. First FLOTUS gave her best duck face, then she and POTUS locked lips ever so briefly... then Malia and Sasha examined the results on their small screens and tried out some duck faces of their own.

That's how it goes with kids. You hardly notice how fast they're growing up, then suddenly big sis is nearly as tall as Mom and the little one is a tween, gently sassing Dad. On the inaugural platform again four years later, a more mature Malia Obama, 14, and Sasha, 11, smiled, sometimes giggled, and chatted with their cousin Avery Robinson as they awaited their father's arrival. Sasha bounced on her feet a bit as if chilly in temperatures hovering around 40 degrees, and later huddled in her seat. Malia, looking poised in calf-high black boots, rivaled her mother's 5 feet 11 inches. Like any girls their age, they whipped out their smartphones in the parade reviewing stand to take photos.

Al Roker scored a split-second, wild chat with President Obama and got a handshake from Vice President Biden during the inaugural parade on Monday. Roker was standing in the crowd, watching Obama go by. NBC colleague Brian Williams wondered if he was going to be able to get Obama's attention. "I think we can pretty much assume that it's going to be a failure," Roker said. When Obama got near enough, he started hollering with everything he had: "MR. PRESIDENT! MR. PRESIDENT! MR. PRESIDENT! HOW'S IT GOING!"

Four years ago, as the United States inaugurated its first black president amidst the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, an estimated 1.8 million swarmed the National Mall to savor the historical moment and looked to incoming President Barack Obama for his message of hope and change. On Monday, that hallowed affair was altogether routine. Jobs continue to grow -- albeit not fast enough for those under- or unemployed -- and the housing and financial markets appear stable. The atmosphere was less dramatic, but the excitement had not dissipated. Much like in 2009, the crowd erupted into cheers at the sight of the first family on a Jumbotron.

Immigration reform activists came to the National Mall on Monday with a slightly different attitude than other revelers. They, like everyone else, were excited to be there and happy for the president to be starting another term. They were thankful to him for a policy implemented last year that gives some undocumented young people deferred action so they can work and remain in the country for at least two years. But the 120 people from the immigration advocacy group Casa de Maryland who gathered near the Washington Monument want more. For many, their attendance was part celebratory, part a call for action. "What do we want?" asked Ricardo Campos, an undocumented 23-year-old from El Salvador, his voice growing hoarse from yelling.

The second inauguration of President Barack Obama gave television networks a chance to bask in the majesty of a Washington event that unites Americans of all beliefs and ideologies – at least for a moment. Then it was back to business as usual: the dissemination of widely divergent views on what people had just seen for themselves. ABC, CBS and NBC, along with the cable news networks, cast aside regular programming on Monday to carry the ceremonial swearing-in and Obama's inaugural address. It didn't carry the same sense of history that Obama's first inauguration did. In 2009, even ESPN and MTV covered the swearing-in. This year, ESPN stuck to talk about the upcoming Super Bowl, and MTV aired "Catfish: The TV Show."

The Barack Obama "brand" was on full display along the parade route as fans waited for the president to travel from Capitol Hill to the White House. Many wore Obama t-shirts, ski caps, hoodies and buttons. One woman wrapped herself in an Obama beach towel for extra warmth. A popular item was the canvas tote bag with pictures of the Obama family on the front and back. Some waved small flags with Obama's likeness on them. Meanwhile, TV cameras are busy "pre-positioning." They're getting ready to get video of Obama's limo in the motorcade, including when he gets out to walk the route. Four flatbed trucks – after being given the once-over by Secret Service, of course – are allowed to join the motorcade in front of Obama's car. Reporters, photographers, TV cameramen and anchors ride in the open-air bed, facing the motorcade to take pictures, to film tape and to see what's happening. You may even see some anchors doing live stand-ups with the motorcade in the background behind them.

In almost every major speech during his first term, President Barack Obama has lamented that the American Dream -- in his view, the promise of a good life in return for hard work -- is under threat. In his second inauguration speech on Monday, Obama evoked the threat by pointing to income inequality, tying the woes of the middle class to the gains of the super rich. "For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it," the president said. "We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class."

President Obama on Monday delivered an Inaugural address that was filled with optimism and themes of equality and progressive policy. But he also addressed the nation's gun lobby in a series of deliberate, carefully worded sentences that occupied an important place in the speech. "Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm," Obama said during the last five minutes of his approximately 20 minute-speech, as his oratory was building to a crescendo. The president has been working on this speech since early December, according to aides, carefully crafting each sentence, transition, and phrase. Obama was directly referencing the massacre of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., a month ago, which traumatized the nation and galvanized support for stronger gun control laws.

After President Obama's public oath of office Monday, the focus will quickly shift from the speeches and what Michelle is wearing to the food. The menu is an exclusive surf and turf that includes lobster in clam chowder sauce, grilled bison and apple cake with homemade ice cream. The meal's three courses, if you eat the whole thing, clocks in at 3027 calories, minus the booze. While it still contains less than the whopping 3,120 calories in The Cheesecake Factory's heart-stopping Bistro Shrimp Pasta that won this year's Xtreme Eating Awards, the decadence of the Inaugural Luncheon has raised a few eyebrows.

Inauguration lunch happening right now in Statuary Hall. twitter.com/jbendery/statu…

President Obama and First Lady walking into fancy, post-inauguration lunch in the Capitol. twitter.com/jbendery/statu…

President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address, delivered on a crisp, overcast day at the nation’s capital, was an unapologetic one. The president, who has spent the first four years navigating Washington as much as shaping it, used his platform on Monday to announce that his next four years will be marked by a more assertive approach. The speech wasn't devoid of the classic, Obama-esque ideal that the country itself, and the two political parties in particular, must come together for the common good. But the appeal he made wasn’t so much to the good nature of each individual lawmaker as it was to the need to confront the severity of the issues at hand. The president talked about protecting entitlement programs upon which the elderly and the most vulnerable in society depend.

President Obama made history today when he mentioned both the Stonewall uprising and gay and lesbian people being treated "like anyone else under the law" during his second inauguration speech. "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths -- that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall..." he said.

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

WASHINGTON — A few dozen protesters were gathered along the Inauguration Day parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue invoking the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King's legacy and urging jobs, not war. The protesters from the anti-war group ANSWER Coalition handed out posters saying "Dr. King's Legacy ... Jobs Not War." Brian Becker, director of the coalition, said the group chose to focus on messages that would resonate with a pro-President Barack Obama crowd. In addition to the poster focusing on MLK's legacy and jobs, protesters also had signs saying "Indict Bush Now" and "Drone Strikes (equals) War Crimes."

Westboro Baptist, thoroughly penned in. twitter.com/aseitzwald/sta…

She is so seriously cool. And she's gonna give Scalia's hat a run for its money. twitter.com/clairecmc/stat…

@zachdcarter and @aterkelready for @huffpostlive #inauguration coverage twitter.com/H_ClayArnold/s…

President Jimmy Carter has arrived in D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration ... and #39 tells TMZ he's SUPER EXCITED to be in the front row when Beyonce performs the National Anthem. The ex-Prez was walking through Reagan National Airport with his wife Rosalynn when we asked if he was looking forward to seeing Beyonce take the mic today after President Barack Obama is sworn in to his 2nd term in office.

John Legend believes hip-hop played its part in helping Barack Obama become president, and he's proud at how the genre has matured over the years. "I think hip-hop had a role in making sure we elected a black president in America because we made it so that black people were in people's homes ... through our music and through our culture," the R&B crooner said Sunday night at the Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball. "I think it made Barack Obama and more people like him possible, so I'm really thankful for hip-hop and the role it plays in society," he continued.

As the sun rises on his second inaugural, President Obama is already a significant figure in American history. And he is poised to become a legend within the Democratic party. He is the nation's first black president. He pushed a sweeping health care bill through Congress. And he got reelected. President Barack Obama is on a trajectory to be an inspiration to new generations of Democrats, in the mold of Kennedy and FDR. Obama’s second term will be the crucible in which his legacy will either be burnished or brought down a notch. "He had a legacy as something unique only in getting elected. He already had something," Robert Gibbs, the president's adviser and White House press secretary for the administration's first two years, told The Huffington Post.

Condoleezza Rice, who served as secretary of state under former President George W. Bush, called on Obama to put electoral politics aside in his second term if he hopes to accomplish those objectives. "It requires now a kind of humility and a reaching across the aisle," Rice said on CBS "This Morning. "And reaching across the aisle, by the way, means reaching out to Americans who may not have voted for him."

WASHINGTON — A heavy and steady stream of people is flooding the National Mall as the sun rises Monday, but there isn't the same early morning crush of humanity there was at this time four years ago for President Barack Obama's first inauguration. With the main event hours away, people are having their pictures taken with a flag-draped Capitol building in the background. Betsy Seeber of Doylestown, Pa.,, says, "I'm not a crowd person, and I was pretty astounded when they estimated there would only be 800,000." It's cool and there's a steady breeze. Hand-warmers are being sold by street vendors three for five dollars. In 2009, when temperatures were in the 20s, vendors got $5 for each one. Janice Boyd of Bentonville, Ark., says, "I'm cold, but we came prepared."

First Course: Steamed lobster with New England clam chowder sauce, served on sauteed spinach with sweet potato hay. Wine: Tierce 2009 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling (NY) Main Course: Hickory grilled bison with wild huckleberry reduction, strawberry preserve and red cabbage, red potato horseradish cake, baby golden beets and green beans and butternut squash purée. Wine: Bedell Cellars 2009 Merlot (Long Island, NY) Dessert: Hudson Valley apple pie with sour cream ice cream and maple caramel sauce. Aged cheeses and honeycomb will also be served, including Toma Celena and Jersey Girl Colby from Cooperstown Cheese Company (Milford, NY). Wine: Korbel Inaugural Cuvee (California)

There's a lot less chaos, and more security, at this inauguration than Obama's first. twitter.com/mmcauliff/stat…

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family are beginning inauguration day by attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House. The presidential motorcade arrived shortly after 8:30 a.m. under crisp, cold skies outside the sanctuary. The president and first lady Michelle Obama emerged to pose briefly for photos with their daughters Sasha and Malia before entering the church. The first family sometimes attends Sunday worship at the church, which is across Lafayette Park from the White House. Vice President Joe Biden and his family also were attending. Meanwhile crowds were gathering at the National Mall to watch Obama take the oath of office later in the morning for his second term.

President & Michelle arrive at church. Obama 'much grayer than he was 4 years ago,' says @gstephanopoulos. #inaug2013 twitter.com/erinruberry/st…

Big inauguration, tiny Aretha hat. twitpic.com/bx3k4a

Some were heading out West to hit the slopes. Some were traveling south for warmer climes. Others were merely popping across the river for a boozy night with friends. But as hundreds of thousands of Americans descended on Washington for President Obama’s inauguration, the one place that many Republicans said they would not be, if they could help it, was anywhere near the nation’s capital. “It’s a chance for President Obama and his supporters to enjoy the city, and for those of us that didn’t support him, there are better places to be,” said Charlie Spies, a Republican lawyer and Mitt Romney supporter who, along with his wife, Lisa, organized a trip to Las Vegas for nearly 100 Republicans over inauguration weekend.

In his second inaugural address, the president is expected to call on Washington to find common ground when possible. Aides say Obama will make the point that the nation's political system doesn't require lawmakers to resolve every difference, but it does require them to act when they can. He'll also call on Americans to get involved in politics and influence what happens in Washington. Obama has already said he'll seek to build public support for the anti-gun violence plan he outlined last week, a package of proposals that faces a tough road in Congress. Obama is not expected to tick through his first-term accomplishments, nor will he announce specific policy proposals for his next four years. But he will lay the groundwork for his second-term agenda, including stricter gun laws, immigration reform and ending the Afghanistan war. How Obama plans to meet those objectives will be defined in more detail during his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.

Honor guard on president's path in Capitol #NBCPolitics #inaug2013 twitter.com/KellyO/status/…

Senior Obama adviser Robert Gibbs on Monday said that the president was “anxious to get started” on his second term and would use his inaugural address to summon a spirit of bipartisanship. “I think he feels comfortable with what he’s got, at ease with what he wants to say,” said Gibbs on “CBS This Morning” of the president’s speech. He understands the moment that he and the country are dealing with and is anxious to get started.” Gibbs wouldn’t share any specifics, but said that President Obama’s address would strike a “hopeful” tone.

Four years after making history by becoming the first African-American president, Barack Obama will kick off his second term on Monday with a scaled-back inauguration that reflects the tempered expectations for his next four years in office. Lingering high unemployment, bitter political battles and a divisive re-election campaign have punctured the mood of optimism and hope that infused Obama's 2009 inauguration after a sweeping election win. This time, Obama's inauguration will feature smaller crowds and a reduced slate of inaugural balls and parties to match the more subdued tenor of the times.

Wendy Davis of Rome, Ga., is one of thousands of inaugural attendees who packed Metro trains before sunrise headed for the Capitol and parade route. Davis came four years ago as well but was among the many ticketholders who couldn't get in because of the massive crowds. She's determined to get in this time. "I thought I was early last time but I obviously wasn't early enough," she says.

If you take your eyes away from the main action of Inauguration Day, you'll see a lot of security; 13,000 personnel to be exact. Snipers on rooftops, Coast Guard on the water and military fighter jets are just a few parts of the security team keeping the day running smoothly. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano said keeping the President safe, not to mention the hundreds of thousands in attendance, is a big job. "Protecting an event this large, complex, with this many different venues, with this number of people coming, requires a lot of coordination and organization," Napolitano said.

Obama, who has confessed to feeling bruised by the partisanship in Washington, aims to use his remarks to underscore the importance of seeking common ground in Washington and encourage Americans to engage in the political process, White House senior adviser David Plouffe said. These are themes that echo the grass-roots activism that King, born 84 years ago, put to use so effectively during the civil rights movement. “He’s going to make that point very strongly — that people here in Washington need to seek common ground,” Plouffe said of Obama on “Fox News Sunday.”

At first, Geysa Blanco thought her son was kidding. "He said, ‘Mom, I have news for you,’ " Blanco said, recalling the telephone call from her son a few weeks ago. "Between English and Spanish, he told me that they had chosen him to write and read a poem at the presidential inauguration,” she said.

The nation will honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday – the same day as it celebrates the inauguration of the first black president to his second term. A quirk in the calendar pushed President Barack Obama's public swearing-in in Washington onto the national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.

Lupe Fiasco reportedly created a bit of a row on Sunday by insulting President Obama during an inaugural event. Although Fiasco was booked as the headliner for the StartUp RockOn concert in celebration of Obama's reelection, the 30-year-old Chicago rapper apparently had no plans to cheer the current administration. Instead, after taking the stage at The Hamilton in Washington, he reportedly announced that he didn't vote for the president in the 2012 election and spent more than 30 minutes performing an anti-war song.

George Washington might have had the right idea. Second inaugural addresses should be short and to the point. Of course, speaking only 135 words as Washington did in 1793 might be a little severe, certainly a lot shorter than anyone expects President Obama to be when he delivers his second inaugural address on Monday. But the challenge for Obama is no different than that faced by Washington and the 15 other two-term presidents – how to make a second inaugural address sound fresh, meaningful and forward-looking. Almost all of Obama’s predecessors failed at this. Only Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt made history with their addresses. One stirred a nation riven by civil war; the other inspired a country roiled by deep depression. All but forgotten are the 14 other addresses, their words unable to survive the test of time. Even those presidents famed for their past oratory fell short.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has rendered his opinion on what he said is the most significant event of inaugural weekend: his wife's new haircut. Said Obama: "I love her bangs. She looks good. She always looks good" First lady Michelle Obama unveiled the new "do" in a White House photo released last Thursday, her 49th birthday.

Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded celebration of Latino culture. Eva Longoria, a co-chairwoman for Obama's campaign, is hosting a salute to the president Sunday evening. Antonio Banderas, Rosario Dawson, Marc Anthony and other entertainers are scheduled to appear in "Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center." The lineup also includes Jose Feliciano, Prince Royce, Frankie Negron, Rita Moreno and Mario Lopez. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech at last year's Democratic National Convention, will address the audience.

For law enforcement officials here, it was a fairly uneventful inauguration weekend. But even with smaller crowds and a diminished level of excitement than four years ago, life in Washington was still upended. On weekends, the areas around the White House and Capitol, populated by large office buildings, are typically quiet. But as President Obama was taking the oath of office on Sunday inside the White House, the surrounding streets were closed by the police or filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic, drivers honking in frustration.

It's a good thing President Barack Obama considers himself a congenital optimist. There are no easy "gets" as he scrolls through his second-term to-do list and looks ahead to the uncertainties of the next four years. Many of the items already on his agenda aren't there of his own choosing. First up is certain battle with Congress in the next few months over deadlines on automatic budget cuts, expiring government spending authority and raising the debt limit. House Republicans last week agreed to bump up the debt limit slightly, but that just puts off that part of the fight for a few months.

President Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts, who flubbed the oath of office in a public inauguration ceremony four years ago, made it through without mistakes on Sunday at a private gathering that launched the Democrat's second term. Shortly before noon on a sunny day, Roberts, dressed in his traditional dark robe, strode into the oval-shaped White House Blue Room and positioned himself, with cue card in hand, at the edge of a light beam streaming in through the window. Obama, dressed in a suit, followed and planted himself opposite the chief justice. His wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, rounded out the tableau.

Want to party like a President? You may not know President Barack Obama’s stance on every issue, but at least now you can learn more about his stance on popular music. The Commander-in-Chief has released an “Official Inauguration Playlist” on Spotify for the big day on Jan. 21. We’re not surprised to see that Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” topped the list. The Grammy award-winning R&B artist performed the hit at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and at one point, David Axelrod’s phone played the tune whenever Barack called. Wonder also composed an original song for the President’s re-election campaign in October called “Keep Moving Forward”.

Several of the women backed by the PAC, which funds female candidates who support abortion rights, attended the brunch, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Claire McCaskill and Tammy Baldwin. Ashley Judd, who has been the center of attention after saying she’s still considering running for the Senate against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also attended.

The number of rooms booked in the District of Columbia area between Saturday and Monday is down 16% compared to four years ago, according to TravelClick, a New York company that provides e-commerce products and services to the hotel industry. As a result of the drop in demand, hotel rates are down 11% compared to the last inauguration, the company said. But the drop in numbers should be no surprise. Obama’s first swearing-in boasted the largest attendance of any presidential inauguration in history, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. About 1.8 million people attended the ceremony in 2009.

From a frigid 2009 Inauguration Day to a soggy 2012 Democratic convention, Mother Nature hasn’t always been kind to President Barack Obama. And meteorologists say that Monday’s inauguration is likely to be another chilly affair. What to wear for Obama’s outdoor ceremony Monday has almost become as big a fashion question in Washington as what First Lady Michelle Obama will wear Monday night to the inaugural ball. “There’s no shortage of curiosity” about Monday’s weather said veteran meteorologist Doug Hill of Washington’s WJLA television. “We’ve been telling people to get ready for cold weather.”

Col. Michael J. Colburn has participated in seven presidential inaugurations with "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, starting in 1989 for George H. W. Bush. Monday will be his third inauguration as director of the prestigious group.