"Obama Names Gay Latino Poet Richard Blanco As Inaugural Poet"
President Obama has named Richard Blanco to recite an original poem as the Inaugural Poet. Blanco is Latino and openly gay, living in Maine with his partner. Blanco says he feels a “spiritual connection” to Obama because of his multicultural background and the way he speaks about his family. In turn, the President believes that Blanco’s writing will “celebrate the strength of the American people and our nation’s great diversity.” Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet to compose an original poem commemorating the occasion, following in the footsteps of Robert Frost (Kennedy, 1961), Maya Angelou (Clinton, 1993), Miller Williams (Clinton, 1997), and Elizabeth Alexander (Obama, 2009).