Rituals, anthropologists will tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation.
First and foremost, that I will, obviously, be the president of all the people, as opposed to one segment. When you look at some of the appointments, there`s great concern because does it really represent all the people, and somehow figuring out how to bring the nation together.
Remember that God ordained that I should be the next president of the United States. Neither you nor any other mortal or mortals could have prevented this.
You know, one of the things I think you understand as president is you're held responsible for everything, but you don't always have control of everything, right?
Hunger, disease and poverty can lead to global instability and leave a vacuum for extremism to fill. So instead of just managing poverty, we must offer nations and people a pathway out of poverty. And as president I've made development a pillar of our foreign policy, alongside diplomacy and defense.