George Walker Bush became the second man to succeed his father as the nation’s chief executive Saturday, quickly planning to lay out an aggressive agenda to match much of his campaign rhetoric.

In a rain-soaked inaugural address, Bush continued his efforts to convince America he will represent all citizens despite an election that left the results in doubt for weeks.

“I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of America’s leaders have come before me and so many will follow,” Bush said. He spoke of faith and slavery and freedom, of flawed, fallible people and of hope.

“Even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way to travel,” Bush said. “While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise – even the justice – of our own country. The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth.”

He made the address just feet away from outgoing Vice President Al Gore, who had bested him by 540,000 ballots in the race for the popular vote. Gore had no speaking role, except to congratulate the new president before the world’s eye with a firm handshake and a display of the transfer of power.

Gore said afterward he wasn’t upset, but that he was a realist. Bush avoided direct mention of the issue in his speech, but thanked Gore for a contest “conducted with spirit and ended with grace.”

Presidents Clinton and Carter were on hand, along with the

elder President Bush, and the only first lady to become an elective official: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

Along the inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, Bush’s motorcade confronted waves of protesters. At Freedom Plaza, a square of concrete parkland four blocks from the White House, a protest area was crowded with gay rights groups, women’s organizations and labor union members who carried a common message against Bush and a Supreme Court that had crafted a ruling that led to the nation’s first judicial decision that, in effect, determined a presidency.

“We must live up to the calling we share,” Bush had said in his inaugural address. “Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos.”

One of the observers, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, said she – like others in the Republican Party – will have differences with the new administration, and with individual Cabinet members, “but we can pull together. We can have differences of opinion and be successful.”

Her colleague from Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, added: “This is such a wonderful time and such a wonderful opportunity to do so much.”