Our Inaugural Traditions

 

Every President, including George Washington, has been sworn to office in a public venue and before the people whom that President serves.  

               In traditional (blessedly boring) times the inauguration of a new President has acquired a set of traditions that are all typically American.  We want ceremony but we don’t want majesty.  We like tradition but eschew pomp.  We want a little dignity but nothing stuffy.  We admire evidence of good sportsmanship, which means being a gracious loser and a generous winner.  We also seem to like a good party. 

               This is what we see in a normal inauguration:

               The day begins with a morning prayer service.  The incoming President is then welcomed to the White House by the outgoing President.  A breach of this tradition occurred when Eisenhower refused to be entertained by Harry and Bess Truman because he wanted to enter the White House for the first time as President.  Truman did not take well to this snub.  They did, however, ride together to the Capitol—evidently without saying a single word to each other.

                A procession to the Capitol for the administration of the oath follows.  The Vice President is sworn in first, to assure continuity of leadership and then the President is given the oath by the Chief Justice of the United States.  In an emergency this oath can be administered by any other official.  Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a Justice of the Peace, in Vermont after getting word of the death of his President, Warren G. Harding.  William Howard Taft not only took the oath himself, but later administered the oath to Herbert Hoover when Taft succeeded to the Chief Justice of the United States (which was the only job he ever really wanted). 

        Finally sworn in, the President gives a speech of which the length and quality are always in question.  But it is what happens next that is really of greater importance.  After the speech, the outgoing President quietly, with as little fanfare as possible, leaves Washington D.C.  He does this so there is no partisan or fanatical retinue interfering with the transfer of power. One administration ends, another takes power.  Evidently you leave gracefully, or don’t show up at all.  This is what has always been done.  It was good enough for George Washington.  Hmmmmm.

        While the old President is making a quiet exit, the new one moves to Statuary Hall where, since 1953, Congress has provided a grand luncheon.  The menus for these luncheons reflect the attitudes and preferences of the President.  Truman wanted an old fashioned midwestern meal of turkey and ham.  Reagan was California salads and seafood.  Eisenhower’s menu looks like Mamie opened a copy of Good Housekeeping and copied recipes for creamed chicken and potato puffs. 

        After the luncheon there is the move up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and a parade.  Jimmy Carter was the first President to walk part of this distant and it has become a modern tradition.  The parade has had many evolutionary changes, from the political clubs that accompanied Washington to Eisenhower’s celebration of American, which included the cowboy Montie Montana lassoing the President.  Both Truman and Bill Clinton had the Budweiser Clydesdales in the parade.  Always a winner. 

        During this entire time, the White House staff completely moves one First Family out and the next one into the White House, lock, stock and barrel.  With pre-planning and a few moving vans, the final move—clothes, toiletries, photos—all happens in a few fast-paced hours.

        The President then spends the evening at the Inaugural Balls.  The first such ball was for 1809’s inaugural of James Madison.  It was held at Long’s Hotel and the tickets were $4.  The gowns worn by the First Ladies include every color except gray.   Shades of yellow and blue lead the list. 

         This grand, noisy, crowded and optimistic ritual has always been peaceful, if not always in good taste.

         When I began the five years of research for my novel That Blaisdell Blood I built a healthy folder on Presidential inaugurations.  The book used the inauguration of the nation’s first female President as its core and I needed details, narrative and anecdote.  The history of this uniquely American event is a buffet for history and trivia lovers.  The inauguration may be only a sidebar to Presidential history, but it is also a look at Americana.    

        Unfortunately, little of what I learned is going to be part of the inauguration on January 20, 2021.  The realities of both a pandemic and an equally infectious threat of traitorous anarchy will produce a truncated and modified inauguration.   But it will be an inauguration.  The words will be the same. 

      “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

       God bless Joseph Robinette Biden and Kamala Devi Harris.  God bless my country.  God bless my fellow Americans.  I keep the faith.