Inauguration Day!

In spirit, I was there at the Capitol when our 44th President, Barack Obama took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address. You can find the text of his address here. I was particularly moved by the portion of the address that asked each and every one of us to do our part.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

A Well-Run Transition

In the two months since the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, his Transition Team has been hard at work and, in my opinion, to good effect.

Have you been following the hearings for nominees to cabinet posts? How many nominees can you name? On the Transition Team's web site there is a section that lists the positions in the new administration.

Here, in order of presidential succession, are President-Elect Obama’s choices:

(Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/obamacabinet.htm)

Updated, Feb 3, 2009, March 2, 2009. * = confirmed by Senate

Department of State: Hillary Clinton* -- U.S. Senator from New York

Department of Treasury: Timothy Geithner* -- head of the New York Federal Reserve

Department of Defense: Robert M. Gates* -- Current Sec. of Defense

Department of Justice (Attorney General): Eric Holder* -- a U.S. attorney under Clinton

Department of Interior: Ken Salazar* -- U.S. Senator from Colorado

Department of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack* -- former Governor of Iowa

Department of Commerce: Gary Locke -- former Governor of Washington [Judd Gregg -- Senator (R) New Hampshire withdrew] (updated Mar 2)

Department of Labor: Hilda Solis* -- US Representative (D) California

Department of Health & Human Services: Kathleen Sebelius -- Governor of Kansas [Tom Daschle -- former U.S. Senator from South Dakota withdrew] (Updated Mar 2)

Department of Housing & Urban Development: Shaun Donovan* -- former New York City housing commissioner

Department of Transportation: Ray LaHood* -- US Representative (R, Illinois)

Department of Energy: Steven Chu* - winner of Nobel Prize for physics in 1997

Department of Education: Arne Duncan* -- Chicago schools superintendent

Department of Veterans Affairs: Gen. Eric Shinseki* (retired) -- Chief of Staff of the Army from 1999 to 2003

Department of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano* -- Governor of Arizona

President-Elect Obama has had a wealth of talent to choose from. His choices give me confidence that the new administration will serve the interests of the American people well.