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Crowds that are expected to swell to an estimated 600,000 people have begun assembling on the National Mall in front of the Capitol, eager to witness the start of the president's second term. Mr. Obama, 51, was formally sworn in during a small private ceremony at the White House residence on Sunday, the date constitutionally mandated for inauguration.

Security in Washington was tight as Mr. Obama, the nation's first black president, prepared to deliver his second Inaugural Address from the Capitol just after noon. Speaking on the day the nation sets aside to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Obama will take his oath with his hand on two Bibles: one once owned by Dr. King and another once owned by Abraham Lincoln.

The president and Michelle Obama started the morning at a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church, just across Lafayette Square from the White House. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill Biden, joined the first couple at the service.

Later in the day, the Obamas will lead the traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue toward an elaborate reviewing stand constructed in front of the White House. Celebrations are scheduled to continue late into the night at two official inaugural balls in Washington's sprawling convention center, with performances by musical stars like Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley, Katy Perry, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Beyoncé will sing the national anthem on Monday afternoon.

Four years ago, a huge crowd of about 1.8 million people jammed into the grassy area between the Capitol and the Washington Monument as Mr. Obama hailed the choice of "hope over fear." That day, the new president declared the country to be "in the midst of crisis," citing the economic collapse that was still unfolding and wars that continued to rage in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words," Mr. Obama said in his 18-and-a-half minute speech in 2009. "With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come."

As he delivers his second Inaugural Address, Mr. Obama is presiding over an economy that has improved and warfare that has receded. But the world remains a dangerous place, the economy is still fragile, and many of the gauzy promises of action and progress from his first address have given way to the cold realities of politics and compromise and bitter gridlock.

After taking his first oath, the new president proclaimed "an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." And he predicted that his election was a signal to the cynics in America, who he said did not understand that "the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply."

But in the wake of a cliffhanger tax deal and facing more fiscal showdowns with a Republican-led House in the coming weeks, Mr. Obama continues to struggle to deliver on the promise he made in his first inaugural speech to bring a new, more united kind of politics to Washington.

That promise will be tested again soon as Mr. Obama seeks to push a new agenda through Congress. That agenda will include the biggest push for gun control legislation in a generation and a revamping of the nation's immigration system that he hopes will give millions of illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship.

The president has already unveiled his proposals to reduce gun violence amid fierce opposition from gun owners, the National Rifle Association and many Republican lawmakers. Aides say Mr. Obama will soon begin the immigration fight as well, perhaps as soon as next month, when he delivers his State of the Union speech.

Mr. Obama used his first Inaugural Address to foreshadow a foreign policy agenda that he pledged would be different from that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. He rejected what he called the false choice between "our safety and our ideals."