The celebration has already begun. Concert orchestras hedge the reflecting pool on the Capitol. Celebrity guests of every walk are addressing the nation. But for all the rejoicing, the next President’s speech must tidy up the remains of the party to drive us toward a single mission. As the economy sputters, and the war in […]

Large crowds thronged to the capital Monday on the eve of Barack Obama‘s elevation to the presidency as America honored slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The president-elect appealed to the nation he is soon to lead to honor King’s memory through service to others.

Days before Bush’s first inauguration in 2001, the Onion ran the headline: “Bush: Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity is Finally Over.”