Washington: Barack Obama made a symbolic trip to the US capital ahead of his Tuesday inauguration as the nation's 44th president, traveling by train along a route that had been followed by Abraham Lincoln.
Crowds braved subfreezing weather to cheer Obama's train on Saturday as it rolled south along the Eastern seaboard from Philadelphia to Washington.
He will take the oath of office in three days, succeeding President George W Bush.
At the start of his train trip, Obama promised to bring the country "a new Declaration of Independence" - free from small thinking, prejudice and bigotry.
The trip included a stop in Delaware to pick up Vice President-elect Joe Biden and a stop in Baltimore for a speech in which he pleaded "let us seek together a better life in our time."
Obama, who will be the first black US president, rode a vintage railcar and harked back to some of America's heros. In appealing "not to our easy instincts but to our better angels," he echoed Lincoln's first inaugural address. He took note of the enormous challenges that lie ahead and promised to act with "fierce urgency," a phrase often used by the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.
Obama also made it clear that he was aware of the challenges his presidency will face.
He cited the faltering economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - "one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely" - the threat of global warming and US dependence on foreign oil.
He told the crowd in Philadelphia that the same idealism displayed by the nation's founders was needed to tackle the difficulties of today.
"We recognise that such enormous challenges will not be solved quickly," Obama said. "There will be false starts and setbacks, frustrations and disappointments. And we will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency."
In Washington, a top adviser to Barack Obama said on Saturday that the soon-to-be president will convene a meeting of high-ranking military officers to discuss the Iraq war and other issues on his first full day in office.
Meanwhile, the US Congress already is working on a mammoth stimulus bill, costing $825 billion or more, to treat an economy that is in its worst condition since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Obama is using it as a vehicle for an array of his campaign priorities, including renewable energy, education and health care innovations.
Obama's blue rail car was tacked onto the back of a 10-car Amtrak train filled with hundreds of guests, reporters and staff for the ride to Washington.
Along the way, Obama and his wife, Michelle, appeared on the back balcony periodically to wave to shivering crowds bundled up in blankets and parkas who had gathered by the dozens, the hundreds and more along the route.
One held a sign that read, "Happy Birthday Michelle," taking note of the future first lady's 45th birthday. Another, in Delaware, waved a placard that said, "We came from Massachusetts 2 C U."
The well-wishers hoped not just for a glimpse of the 44th president-in-waiting but for a cameo role in history.
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