Obama calls for renewed spirit of national service

In his ambitious, policy-heavy speech to Congress and the nation, President Obama reiterated his plans to boost community service and bring volunteerism to the center of the national strategy to help families and communities weather the ongoing economic crisis, as well as make progress against some of our most enduring societal problems, such as tackling the dropout crisis, strengthening our schools and expanding economic opportunities for low-income individuals.

Obama to nation: We will rebuild. We will recover.

Five weeks into his administration and just a week after the president signed a $787 billion economic stimulus packs, Obama relayed his continuing sense of hope in an address to a joint session of Congress that aired across America.

Obama began him speech by recognizing that "the impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere." But Obama says we have not been defeated, that he continues to have faith, despite record breaking unemployment rates, a cratering stock market, teetering banks and an auto industry on the brink of collapse.

BAM signs the stimulus bill

Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Obama says the $787 billion package will create 3.5 million jobs and re-energize the suffering U.S. economy. The stimulus will put the economy on a "firmer foundation," Obama said before signing the bill in Denver, Colo. It passed both houses of Congress on Friday with almost no support from Republicans.

Today in BAM History: Day 16

Salary cap slap

Obama imposed a $500K cap on senior executive pay for companies that received federal bail out money.

"We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we believe that success should be rewarded," Obama said. "But what gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded for failure, especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers."

Top business leaders often receive annual packages worth several million dollars, so a $500,000 compensation cap is striking.

Barack Obama takes over White House

Using the same bible Abraham Lincoln did for his inauguration and just a short distance from where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, Barack Obama was officially sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America on January 20. And yet again his oratory skill wowed the millions watching the event in D.C. and people gathered in other locations across the country, like in New York's Times Square, to watch the address on jumbo screens.

As the son of a Kenyan immigrant, Obama placed his presidency in proper context.