WASHINGTON — Barack Hussein Obama took his place as the 44th president of the United States under a bright January sky yesterday, painting this perilous national moment in unsparing terms and exhorting Americans to respond by taking greater responsibility for themselves, the country and the world.

Standing on the West Front of the Capitol as the first African-American ever sworn in as president, the Hawai'i-born Obama celebrated that historic achievement, noting that "a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."