For the first time in history, people who don’t believe in a god or gods got a mention by a president in an inaugural address. The mention of one word has atheists, agnostics, humanists and free thinkers feeling welcome under the new administration.

In his address on Tuesday, Barack Obama said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers.”

That last word has garnered praise from many corners.

PZ Myers, perhaps Minnesota’s most prominent “nonbeliever”: “It’s a small thing, but appreciated. Everyone seems to be a bit unsatisfied with his specific choice of word, and I agree a bit. The better choice, the word that would have been more inclusive and positive, is ‘freethinkers.’ Someone let his speechwriters know.”

American Atheists’ Ed Buckner: “In his Inaugural Address today, President Barack Obama finally did what many before him should have done, rightly citing the great diversity of Americans as part of the nation’s great strength and including ‘non-believers’ in that mix. His mother would have been proud, and so are we. ”

Ronald A. Lindsay, president of the Center for Inquiry, “a global federation committed to science, reason, free inquiry, secularism, and planetary ethics.”: “For much of American history, agnostics and atheists were denied important civil rights, and in some states, until the early 1960’s, were explicitly forbidden from holding public office. Even after these legal constraints had been removed, nonbelievers were stigmatized or ignored by most politicians. We are encouraged that President Obama has unambiguously indicated he will be the president of all Americans.”