Obama signs health care reform bill.

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama on Tuesday signed into law a sweeping health care reform bill, the nation's most substantial social legislation in four decades, achieving a top priority of his administration.

The jubilant signing ceremony capped a political victory for Obama that supporters hope could guarantee his place in history with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson as one of the most successful social reforming presidents.

While Republicans and social conservatives vow to try to undermine or even repeal the bill, Obama and Democratic leaders celebrated Tuesday's signing as historic progress for the nation.

"It's been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing, to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve," Obama said.

"We are not a nation that scales back its aspirations," he continued. "We are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. We don't fall prey to fear."

Rather, "we are a nation that does what is hard, what is necessary, what is right," Obama said.

In the end, he said, the bill shows that America believes in the "core principle" that "everybody should have some basic security when it comes to health care."

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The crowd stood to cheer when Obama and Vice President Joe Biden entered the packed East Room of the White House, then chanted Obama's campaign slogan of "Fired up! Ready to go!" as Obama and Biden applauded and smiled.

Among those on hand for the signing ceremony was Vicki Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who championed health care reform for decades before his death last year.

Also present were several people who wrote Obama in the past year about their personal woes over losing or being unable to get health insurance. Obama had told their stories when campaigning for the health care bill in recent months.

He also noted some private citizens attending Tuesday's ceremony, including 11-year-old Marcelas Owens of Washington state and Ryan Smith, a small-business owner from California, who supported the bill.

And he said, "I'm signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days."

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Democratic senators and representatives filled the crowd, and all stood to cheer and applaud after Obama used 20 pens to sign the bill.

The new law narrowly passed the House of Representatives late Sunday night. It was approved by the Senate in December. In both votes, no Republicans supported the measure.

A separate compromise package of changes also was passed by the House on Sunday and still needs to be approved by the Senate. If the compromise measure also becomes law, it would raise the total cost of the health care bill to $940 billion.

The measure is projected to extend insurance coverage to roughly 32 million additional Americans, in part by expanding Medicaid assistance for the poor while creating an insurance exchange to increase competition. It also will require most Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine.

"You have turned the right of every American to have access to decent health care into reality for the first time in American history," Biden said in introducing Obama.

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