The day began gray and blustery, with an inch or two of snow remaining on the Capitol grounds. Most of what is Washington, D.C. to tourists—nearly all of the Mall and everything between the Capitol and 18th--was closed and barricaded, with no vehicles or pedestrian traffic allowed.
We picked up our ceremony tickets from Congressman John Linder’s office in the Longworth House Office Building, with the lines into the building short for a typical metal detector search. The only hassle was that we, along with everyone else, were bundled against the cold, and we had to pull the outer layers off for the security check.
We were buoyed by the location of our “seats,” which were standing tickets in the middle of the Capitol grounds. The Congressman’s assistant said that 95% of their tickets were down on the Mall, so ours were “the good tickets.” Don’t know if she was exaggerating, but the place we ended up was quite nice, for which we are grateful to the Congressman and his staff.
We waited for more than an hour and a half in a long line down Independence Avenue for the next security check to get onto the Capitol grounds. It was still in the 20s at this point and windy, so this was the coldest part of the day. This security point was an individual hand check. The line was divided at the end into male and female and we had to open our coats for a security person, who patted us down and looked us in the eyes.
As the ceremony began, at 11:30, the clouds thinned and the sun began to shine, which I know sounds corny, but it’s true. The Capitol building looks fabulous in the red, white, and blue dressings and flags, and in the bright sun it was a sight to behold.
The news commentators said the crowd was largely Republican, which is a logical assumption, but by no means something a journalist could know because no one was doing “entrance polls.”
The low point, early on, was when Christopher Dodd introduced the Vice Presidential oath of office, some of the crowd booed the Democrat, which we found in extremely poor taste at the bi-partisan event. It also happened when Nancy Pelosi was introduced.
The most poignant moment was when Chief Justice Rheinquist was introduced and brought in mid-ceremony so he wouldn’t have to be out in the cold so long. I’m sure it took all of his available strength and courage to hobble down the steps, with a Marine at his elbow.
The high point was the Inaugural Address. I was stunned by the sheer power of a 20-minute presentation of vision presented in poetic and inspiring prose, which I believe sets one of the most ambitious and uplifting agendas in American history. What great confidence and courage it took not to try to push all of the political buttons, not to lay out the state of the union in an inaugural, and not to advance programmatic details. (I’ll write more about this when I’m not on the run).
Bundled in the cold, the reception of the President by the gathered crowd was warm and enthusiastic, although the frequent applause from the masses was the padded thumping of gloved hands, which was quite humorous.
Eschewing the parade, we retreated to a wonderful Chinese restaurant at 21st and M to reflect on a great day for America, and I believe, for the world.
--James Jewell
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