As I traveled to Washington D.C. for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, I found myself thinking about trust and presidential power. At a time when the American people are not only looking for, but believing in, change, an enormous amount of trust is bestowed upon the Obama administration. While there is no question that a successful government hinges on a certain amount of trust from its constituents in order to accomplish anything, it has historically been the times in which people have given the president the most trust that they have been let down. In 1968, President Nixon was elected in a time of trauma; the American people looked up to him and trusted that he could fix things. Ironically, that administration resulted in Watergate, the most egregious public presidential scandal involving a president until the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 2001, President Bush was elected during a time of satisfaction, but months after his inauguration, America faced one of the most harrowing events in its history. After Sept. 11, 2001, the country put its faith in President Bush to fix things and was willing to allow the president to expand his power in order to stabilize the country. It was with the belief that the president would not betray the morals of the American people that this power was entrusted.

Unfortunately, President Bush designated himself “The Decider” and used oil swiped from the Middle East to burn his copy of the Constitution. I do not need to explain the negative results of the Bush administration to you, for it is the world we live in today. Never before in the history of America has executive power expanded as much as it has under the authority of President Bush; it seems that Bush never forgot Nixon’s famous quote: “It is not illegal when the president does it.”

I am a proud Obama supporter, but I found it chilling that we have reached another point in history where the American people must put all of their trust in the hands of a government that has abused that trust so many times.

Then I traveled to Washington, D.C. with 2.6 million other Americans. After hours of waiting, Obama spoke: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” Standing shoulder to shoulder with my fellow citizens in a sea of patriotism and multiculturalism, I found myself listening as Obama addressed the nation for the first time as president without an ounce of doubt or mistrust. People young and old, black and white, cheered together and cried together as the speech continued: “At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.” All eyes, wet and dry, were glued to Obama. Not since Sept. 11 has the country been more united than at this moment.

While thanking President Bush for his service to our nation, Obama’s speech implicitly took stabs at the Bush administration, referring to it as childish, among other things. It is not customary for a president to use his acceptance speech as a medium to denounce the prior president. But this unique speech was necessary in order to show that real change has come. It didn’t matter if you were seated on the lawn of the capital or at the Washington monument, you could feel the pride and relief in the air. “Congratulations on your new president,” teary-eyed strangers said to their neighbors while hugging one another at the end of Obama’s speech. It truly was a peaceful transfer of authority.

Barack Obama inherited a lot of power when he officially became the 44th President on January 20th. And though the abuse of power may be the greatest tyranny, I left Washington believing that Obama, as he said, understands that “America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.” Congratulations on your new president, Amherst.