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The Inauguration Room

On January 20, 2009 the United States of America will inaugurate its 44th President, Barack Obama.

President Obama will be the first African American to hold the office, and will step into the White House in the midst of a trying economic situation and panoply of unresolved international issues.

To commemorate this historic moment in U.S. history, we've pulled together videos of past inaugurations of presidents of the past. Speeches from President Obama himself, and books from the Lycoming County Libraries on the presidency.


Speeches of Barack Obama

The following speeches in PDF format are from the magazine Vital Speeches of the Day,  locate this magazine and thousands of others with our convenient Magazine Finder.



You'll find the following selected books and many more available in the collection of the Lycoming County Library System

Audio Books


The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer
Duration: 18 hours, 4 minutes - Fiction

Description:
A two-hundred year old code devised by Thomas Jefferson and a present-day conspiracy at the highest level of power add up to the most exciting, fast-paced and ambitious novel to date by New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer Available in .Listen to Books.org

An Honest President by H. Paul Jeffers
Today the 22nd and 24th President, Grover Cleveland is mainly remembered as the only President to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. But in his day, Cleveland was a renowned reformer—an enemy of political machines who joined forces with Theodore Roosevelt to fight powerful party bosses, a moralist who vetoed bills he considered blatant raids on the Treasury, a vigorous defender of the Monroe Doctrine who resisted American imperialism, and a President who stood his ground against Wall Street robber barons.

This title and many more - available in TumbleTalking Books: - Listen on your computer, no software download needed, always available. Just click and listen.

Printed books

His Excellency : George Washington
His Excellency : George Washington
Ellis, Joseph J.
The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Founding Brothers" delivers a landmark biography that brings to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history--George Washington. photos.
Lincoln : a moral compass in politics
Lincoln : a moral compass in politics
Carwardine, Richard
For all that has been written about the 16th president, Carwardine has found an aspect worthy of closer focus: Lincoln as the man who discovered and developed a political agenda, worked to advance it, and led both the nation and himself to new heights. The author discusses his subject's background, both personal and political; how Lincoln's principles led him to the Whig party and then on to the Republicans; and how these principles helped him reach his status as savior of the Union and the Great Emancipator. This is a fascinating tale of the 19th-century politician who became popularly identified as America's greatest president.
The Eloquent president
The Eloquent president
White, Ronald C. (Ronald Cedric)
"In The Eloquent President, historian Ronald C. White, Jr., examines Lincoln's astonishing oratory and explores his growth as a leader, a communicator, and a man of deepening spiritual conviction." "Examining a different speech, address, or public letter in each chapter, White tracks the evolution of Lincoln's rhetoric from the measured, lawyerly tones of the First Inaugural, to the imaginative daring of the 1862 Annual Message to Congress, to the haunting, immortal poetry of the Gettysburg Address. As a speaker who appealed not to intellect alone, but also to the hearts and souls of citizens, Lincoln persuaded the nation to follow him during the darkest years of the Civil War. Through the speeches and what surrounded them - the great battles and political crises, the president's private anguish and despair, the impact of his words on the public, the press, and the nation at war - we see the full sweep and meaning of the Lincoln presidency."
Ulysses S. Grant : the unlikely hero
Ulysses S. Grant : the unlikely hero
Korda, Michael, 1933-
Simon & Schuster's editor-in-chief offers insights into Grant (1822- 85), 18th president of the US. Beginning this concise biography with speculation about how Grant might have felt about his tomb being used as the backdrop for a recent pop concert, Korda traces his upbringing, victories as a Civil War general, and shortcomings as president (e.g., failure to grasp economics) in the context of the times. The author urges politicians contemplating the use of force to first read Grant.
The failure of the founding fathers : Jefferson, Marshall, and the rise of presidential democracy
The failure of the founding fathers : Jefferson, Marshall, and the rise of presidential democracy
Ackerman, Bruce A.
"The ink was barely dry on the constitution when it was almost destroyed by the rise of political parties in the United States. As Bruce Ackerman shows, the Framers had not anticipated the two-party system, and when Republicans battled Federalists for the presidency in 1800, the rules laid down by the Constitution exacerbated the crisis.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt : champion of freedom
Franklin Delano Roosevelt : champion of freedom
Black, Conrad.
Newspaper tycoon Black praises former President Roosevelt for having the clearest strategic vision of the major world leaders during World War II and for using "political legerdemain" in using war to end the Great Depression and save democratic capitalism. FDR emerges in these pages, primarily devoted to his four terms in the White House, as the consummate skilled politician and among the U.S.'s greatest presidents.
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Brands, H. W.
An acclaimed historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist offers a clear, comprehensive, and timely account of Wilson's unusual route to the White House, his campaign against corporate interests, and his decline in popularity and health following the rejection by Congress of his League of Nations. .
Edith and Woodrow : the Wilson White House
Edith and Woodrow : the Wilson White House
Levin, Phyllis Lee
Former New York Times reporter Levin (Abigail Adams) delivers a beautifully written and impeccably researched account of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson and her key role after President Woodrow Wilson's stroke on October 2, 1919.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Wicker, Tom
"A bona fide American hero at the close of World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower rode an enormous wave of popularity into the Oval Office seven years later. We may view the Eisenhower years through a hazy lens of nostalgia, but the good times of the 1950s distracted the public from a world in the throes of great transition, and masked profound unease both at home and abroad. Americans didn't seem to mind much that their fatherly president spent much of his time on the golf course with his wealthy businessman cronies, or that his health was suspect."
An unfinished life : John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
An unfinished life : John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
Dallek, Robert
An Unfinished Life is the first authoritative single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written in nearly four decades. Drawing upon firsthand sources, freshly unearthed documents, and never-before-opened archives, prizewinning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy, forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency, and his legacy.
A different drummer : my thirty years with Ronald Reagan
A different drummer : my thirty years with Ronald Reagan
Deaver, Michael K
Warm and personal, "A Different Drummer" brims with recollections of Ronald Reagan as governor, president, and friend. Deaver writes of the Reagan he has known: a man who was shy and deplored talking about himself; a man whose convictions remained unchanged over the course of his life.
Bill Clinton : an American journey
Bill Clinton : an American journey
Hamilton, Nigel
Warm and personal, "Who is Bill Clinton, though, and how did this baby-boom saga begin? Clinton's upbringing in Arkansas and his student years at Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale universities help us to see his life not only as a personal story but as the story of modern America."