After being sworn in surrounded by close family, Obama will put the finishing touches on his inaugural address.
Aides have offered few previews of what he will say on Monday, though such occasions offer the chance for presidents to stress national unity, and to bind wounds of the kind of acrimonious elections like the one Obama won in 2012.
Obama has been seen with yellow legal pads full of ideas for his speech, which will likely be high on poetry but low on policy: his State of the Union Address on February 12 will flesh out his agenda.
But the president will have a message for allies and enemies abroad, and could shape the political ground for top agenda priorities including immigration and energy reform and new gun control laws.
After Monday’s solemn ceremony will come celebration, as Obama returns to the White House down a parade route lined with crowds, before a night of glittering inaugural balls – though the festivities have been trimmed in recognition of the tough times many Americans are still enduring.
On Saturday, Obama and his wife Michelle grabbed paintbrushes for an inaugural day of service at a Washington DC school.
The president, wearing khaki trousers and a button down shirt, and the first lady, in a purple shirt and black leggings, helped stain a bookshelf along with two members of a group that works to keep children in school.
Obama later joked that “Michelle said I did a fine job.”
There has been an immense security build-up ahead of the inauguration, with cameras and barricades covering much of the route leading up to the Capitol. Thousands of police will also fan the area on Monday: several at each street corner.
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