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In a fitting ceremony, Moore, who is also the state's first African American governor, was sworn into office on abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ bible before being welcomed to the podium on the steps of the Maryland State House by none other than Oprah Winfrey.
“I met Wes for the first time in 2010 … I interviewed him for his best-selling book. I was so impressed by his integrity and wisdom. He was wind beyond his years,” Winfrey declared. “Maryland is full to the brim with opportunity. It was back then, and it is now.
“With Wes Moore as your governor, Maryland’s best days are ahead. I trust you. I trust your vision. I trust your leadership.”
There was no shortage of pomp and circumstance on Moore’s first official day in office, which started with his son, James, reciting the national anthem, with the family affair continuing later with new Lt. Gov. Arena Miller’s daughter’s introducing her.
“Yes, Aruna’s and my portraits are going to look a little different from the ones you’ve always seen in the capitol, but that's not the point. This journey has never been about 'making history.’ It's about marching forward," Moore said.
"Today is not an indictment of the past; it's a celebration of our collective future. And today is our opportunity to begin a future so bright, it’s blinding.”
Moore, 44, a Takoma Park native, is only the third African politician to be elected governor in the US, following in the footsteps of Virginia’s Douglas Wilder in 1989 and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts in 2006.
“We are blocks away from the Annapolis docks, where so many enslaved people arrived in this country against their will … And we are standing in front of a capitol building built by their hands,” Moore said. “We have made uneven and unimaginable progress since then. It is a history created by generations of people whose own history was lost, stolen, or never recorded.
“And it is a shared history - our history - made by people who, over the last two centuries, regardless of their origin story to Maryland, fought to build a state, and a country that works for everybody.”
During his inauguration speech, Moore promised transparency and stressed the importance of inclusiveness while trying to close the racial wealth gap.
"Now fair warning, there are going to be skeptics, who will say that we cannot rise above the toxic partisanship we see all too often in today's politics ... Where people care more about where the idea came from than it is about a good idea," he added.
“Those voices told me at the beginning of my campaign, ‘You don't understand how politics work.’ To them I said, and I say, 'We must govern on big principles and not petty differences.
“For all Marylanders. For those who did not vote for me, I will work to earn your support; for those who did, I will work to keep it.”
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