Lawmakers and officials from Tennessee offered a range of views and reactions regarding Monday's 57th presidential inauguration.
Before President Barack Obama was administered the oath of office for the second time, Sen. Bob Corker issued a statement drawing a link between the significance of the event and the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday was also recognized Monday as a federal holiday.
"As we mark the beginning of President Obama's second term and the start of the 113th Congress, my hope is that Dr. King's legacy will inspire us to have the courage to take the steps we know are necessary to leave behind a better country for future generations," Corker said.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, who was at the president's side much of the day, offered a speech to hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall. During his brief remarks, Alexander summarized the inauguration as profound, the "most conspicuous and enduring symbol of our democracy."
"How remarkable that this has survived for so long in such a complex country with so much power at stake—this freedom to vote for our leaders and the restraint to respect the results," Alexander said.
Although both Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and Scott DesJarlais were in attendance at Monday's ceremony, neither offered any official comment with regard to the swearing in of the president. Hours before Obama took the podium, a post to Fleischmann's Twitter account for his campaign commented on the health care law passed during Obama's first term, one of the signature policies of his first four years in office.
"We need to focus on ways to reduce the costs of Obamacare," Fleischmann said.
DesJarlais offered no form of comment on Monday's event.
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney offered a brief take on the president's inaugural address, sending out the following tweet:
"Veiled partisanship and vague liberal platitudes—not very uniting today from President Obama. But I don't expect that much from him."
