The crowd that jammed the National Mall on Monday for President Barack Obama's second inaugural may have been smaller and less ebullient than the 1.8 million people who attended his historical first swearing-in, but by no means was it somber.


"Last time it was so emotional. You were shoulder to shoulder with strangers who were feeling the same emotion," said Cathy Mayers, 60, of Pittsburgh. "This time it's satisfaction, hope, and still pride."

Sitting in a wheelchair catty-corner to the stage where Obama took the oath of office, 91-year-old Roy Battle called Monday's event "the fulfillment of a dream we never expected to be filled."

Battle was of several Tuskegee Airmen — the legendary African-American World War II aviators — to witness the nation's first black president sworn in for the second time.

"We've made progress, but I know there's more progress to be made," he said. "And Obama stands for excellence. He's overcome adversity."

Battle and Mayers were among countless onlookers who returned to the National Mall to watch history unfold a second time with Obama's second inauguration.


Dexter Johnson of Centralia, Ill., didn't attend 2009's inaugural because his birthday came five days after Election Day in 2008.

"It is my first inauguration, so I do not know what is going to happen, but I am sure it will be hectic," Johnson said.

Not as hectic as Obama's first inaugural, when despite bone-numbingly cold temperatures, an estimated 1.8 million people flocked to the Mall that day.


Kennis Wilkins, a Williamson, N.C., resident and Obama campaign volunteer who attended the 2009 inaugural, said he returned because "I feel like the second term for Barack Obama is the one that's really going to count."


"What about the children?" said the man, who had climbed up a ladder into a tree near the Capitol. "America has been warned."
