On the morning of his historic inauguration last month, Wes Moore stood in the sun along the water in downtown Annapolis and swayed as he sang.

“I’m gonna keep on walking, keep on talking, marching to the freedom land,” he quietly sang along to poet Lady Brion’s rendition of the civil rights anthem, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” in the spot where enslaved Africans once arrived on Maryland’s shores.

The moment marked the beginning of a day packed with nods toward what Moore referred to as “uneven and unimaginable progress.”“It’s impossible not to think about our past, and our path,” Moore said in his inaugural address as he became Maryland’s first Black governor and the only current Black governor in the country.

Moore’s own path to becoming Maryland’s chief executive and a rising star in national Democratic politics has had many chapters. He was a Rhodes scholar, served as a White House fellow in the State Department, led paratroopers in Afghanistan, worked as an investment banker in London and New York, become a bestselling author, started a production company and ran one of the country’s largest poverty-fighting nonprofits.

His winding path and growing profile over the years led many in Maryland political circles to wonder when — not if — he would run for office. Moore launched his campaign in 2021 and went on to defeat a robust field of experienced Democrats in the primary and a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump in November.

Now, in just a few weeks in office, he’s moved ahead with campaign pledges to expand public service opportunities, further fund education and transportation projects and give a financial boost to veterans.

“I love the fact that we, and this team, that we have a chance to actually do something about this stuff now and not just kind of shaking our fists at it,” Moore said.

How Moore proceeds in his first term, and potentially beyond, will be closely watched. And not just by Marylanders.

His burgeoning national profile — from the inauguration introduction by Oprah Winfrey, his friend, to the litany of national television appearances — is already putting him in conversations as a future presidential candidate.

Moore, for his part, has turned all questions about his political future back to the state he now leads.

“Today is not the victory. Today is the opportunity,” he said toward the end of his inaugural speech. “It is our opportunity to lead with love. It is our opportunity to create with compassion. It’s our opportunity to fight fearlessly for our future.”

— Sam Janesch