A primer for the upcoming presidential inauguration
The United States’ forty-fourth president, Barack Obama, will be inaugurated for his second term on January 21. Although the president will officially take his oath on Sunday, January 20, the public festivities will occur on the following Monday. The inauguration will feature the traditional parade, multiple formal ball dances and the official swearing-in.
According to ABC News, the theme of the fifty-seventh  inauguration will be “Faith in America’s Future,”  an optimistic motto to counter the country’s current economic troubles and an attempt to bolster national spirit.
Less than half the number of people are expected to attend this year’s inauguration in comparison to that of four years ago. Obama’s iconic 2009 inauguration brought in approximately 1.8 million people, according to The Washington Post. This year, according to The Huffington Post, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people are predicted to attend the inauguration. This decrease in attendance is not unusual though; second-term inaugurations have a tendency to be much smaller celebrations than those for presidents’ first terms.
The inauguration will feature a variety of big names, including Hollywood actress Eva Longoria. Longoria will be co-chair of the 2013 inauguration.  She was a huge benefactor to the Obama administration during his 2012 campaign, acting as a spokesperson for the Hispanic community and earning the Obama administration about 30 million dollars, according to The Washington Post.
Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign director, will be the Chairman of the Inauguration and Chair of the Inaugural Parade. All four living presidents, Jimmy Carter, George Bush Jr., George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton, will be honorary chairs as well, according to CNN.com.
Students at Convent of the Sacred Heart will be tuning in to watch this significant event.
“I’ll definitely be watching the inauguration. I feel like most students at Sacred Heart will too,”  senior Molly Flynn said. “It’s interesting, I feel like people in our grade are very aware of politics, but in general I think our generation is a little too detached from global issues.”
The inauguration will be played live on all major news broadcasting stations, as well as streaming on hulu.com and multiple news websites.
 
– Chloe Kimberlin, Co-Features Editor