Obama, Biden to take train to Washington for inauguration

Washington, Dec.16 (ANI): Barack Obama and Joe Biden will take a page out of American history in the second week of January, 2009, when they make their journey to Washington by train to launch the ceremonial run-up to Inauguration Day on January 20.

According to the New York Daily News, the trip along the silver rails from Philadelphia to Washington will evoke President Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ride.

Obama began his historic presidential run in the Great Emancipator's hometown of Springfield, Illinois, in February 2007.

In February 1861, Lincoln rode a train from Philadelphia to his inauguration in Washington, stopping to make quick speeches along the way.

On January 17, Obama will hold a kickoff event in the City of Brotherly Love, the Presidential Inauguration Committee announced today.

The President-elect and his family will travel to Wilmington, Delaware, Biden's hometown, to pick up the vice president-elect's entourage, then proceed to Baltimore for another event, officials said.

With security officials expecting several million to witness his January 20 swearing-in on the Capitol steps, Obama hopes to ease the strain by including "as many Americans as possible who wish to participate, but can't be in Washington," said Emmett S. Beliveau, executive director of the planning committee.

The inaugural theme is "Restoring America's Promise," the committee announced last week, and they will hold events in cities "instrumental to that promise."

"Philadelphia, where that promise was realized; Baltimore, where that promise was defended, then immortalized in our national anthem; and Washington, where Americans of all backgrounds will gather over four days, united in common purpose and resolved to renew that promise once more," a statement by the committee said on Monday.

Other events leading up to the inauguration include a public welcoming ceremony for Obama in Washington on January 18 and "community service activities" for the Obama and Biden clans on Martin Luther King Day, January 19.

On January 21, the day after he takes office as the 44th President, Obama will attend a prayer service, the committee said. (ANI)