Second inauguration of Barack Obama the man in question and the country he leads were in so many ways far beyond what the Founders could have imagined. And that, despite our natural tendency to glorify our origins, that this America was in virtually every way better than the one they offered up to us." Second inauguration of Barack Obama The second inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, marked the commencement of the second term of Barack Obama as President and Joe Biden as Vice President. A private swearing-in ceremony took place on Sunday, January 20, 2013 in the Blue Room of
Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Nobel Prize–winning scientist Steven Chu was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 20, 2009. On January 21, 2009, Chu was sworn in as Secretary of Energy in the Barack Obama administration. Chu is the first person appointed to the Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize. He is also the second Chinese American to be a member of the Cabinet after Elaine Chao. On February 1, 2013, Secretary Chu announced his resignation pending the confirmation of a successor. On March 4, 2013 President Obama announced he was nominating Ernest Moniz as