Obama traces Lincoln's step to Baltimore

www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-18 15:37:30 Print
by Wang Wei

BALTIMORE, United States, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama Saturday visited Baltimore, Maryland, in memory of former President Abraham Lincoln, as the last stop of his train tour before arriving at Washington D.C. for inauguration.

Obama showed up in the afternoon with Vice President-elect Joe Biden as well as their family members in the War Memorial Plaza of the city, where as Obama's team earlier said "the promise was defended," as hundreds of thousands audience hailed their names.

The train heading to the capital started from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a historical city where "promise was founded," and picked up Biden at Welmington, Delaware, with a final destination at the Union Station in Washington, D.C.

"A few decades after the framers met in Philadelphia, our new union faced its first true test," Obama told the crowd. "The White House was in flames, and the British were advancing on Baltimore."

He retrieved Baltimore's history of defeating British Navy troops and inspiring a poem that later was adopted as lyrics of the American National Anthem.

With the spirit Baltimore left behind to the nation, Obama encouraged Americans to confront with challenges the country is facing now -- faltering economy, two wars and dependence on imported oil.

"What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that those first patriots displayed," he said. "What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives."

Obama is expected to take over the White House on Jan. 20 as the first African-American president in history and bring changes to the country as he promised in the presidential campaign.

Along the day-long train tour, he reiterated calls for nation unity among different parties, regions and races, among others, and reaffirmed promises to work out better policies for job creation, education and health care.

"It is a reiterating of what he has said over the last year that the country is ready for change," said Brad Gillenwater, a Baltimore resident. "All Americans, in general, wish him nothing but the best. We were excited about his leadership that we hope he is going to provide."

Despite an unusual temperature below zero degree in Baltimore, people started to form a line at the entrance to the War Memorial Plaza at about 8:00 a.m., keeping themselves warm with blankets, hats and body warmers.

"It is such a historical event that I have to come out and brave this bad cold weather," said Vivian Malloy, who came to Baltimore around 7:00 a.m. for a good spot to watch Obama. "I hope he will be able to make wise decision for the prosperity of our country, and bring our country into more uniformity."

Like other cities where Obama stopped during the train tour, Baltimore has been put on high alert since early Saturday morning, with many roads leading to the plaza closed and a dozen of security checkpoints set up.

A Baltimore volunteer assisting the Saturday event whose given name is Sarah told Xinhua that Obama decided to come to the city before heading to Washington D.C. because he would like to follow steps of former President Lincoln, who went to the capital through Baltimore by train in 1861. read it all