On the same Bible Abe Lincoln swore upon a century and a half ago, the 44th President of the United States made history before inspired millions in Washington as he took the ceremonial oath of the presidency. And botched it.

First there was a misstart when Barack Obama said, "I, Barack…" while Chief Justice John G. Roberts was still prompting him. Next came the real doozy. Roberts said, "That I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully." Actually, the correct phrasing reads, "That I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." Obama got as far as "that I will execute…" before he hesitated at the Chief Justice's error. Roberts tried to recover by prompting, "faithfully the office of president of the United States," but he'd omitted the word "execute." Obama conceded to the first mistake by placing "faithfully" at the end of the phrase.

It was the first of what will inevitably be, frankly, many false starts, sputters, miscommunications and outright blunders in his administration's efforts to reshape America. But at the time, it was sort of charming.

When he stood on the raised platform to take the oath, he looked sheepish, embarrassed by all the pomp and circumstance. He got out of his armored limousine twice during the motorcade to wave to the crowds. His modesty and cool intelligence will give him a legacy not of being the president, but our president.

George W. Bush's class and composure at the ceremony are not to be ignored. A kiss on the cheek to Michelle Obama and a hardy embrace of the man who will face the challenges he leaves behind were gestures that paint a different picture of the ex-president, and I believe history may be far kinder to Bush than his favorability ratings suggest.

To the crowd gathered in Texas for his and Laura's homecoming, he said, "When I go home and I look in the mirror, I'm not going to regret what I see." On the bitter sweetness of leaving the White House, he said, "Today is some kind of sweet, we are glad to be home."

Inauguration Day had the spirit of senior prom: the dressing up, the bittersweet nostalgia, the animosities briefly forgotten and even the dancing. But most striking was the sense of a calm understanding that things from now on will be different, for better and for worse.

It's na've to say the nation should unite despite political differences of opinion. In fact, America will be better served if informed citizens put government under intense scrutiny, as the Founding Fathers endorsed. Good government is not a question of ends but of means, and as Obama said, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."

No political pundit can predict how Obama's reign will shape our nation's future, but as cameras paused on children's tears as they listened to him speak and as Metro officials in D.C. kept crowds from panicking by chanting O-Ba-Ma, it became clear to me that independent of policy, many in our nation have been inspired to work hard, to consume responsibly, to take stock in the advancement of their community and country. And that is as good a recipe for prosperity as any.

In the words of Obama, "the world has changed, and we must change with it."