Yesterday’s inauguration offered one new precedent – a lavishly iced Inaugural Cake in shades of red, white and blue, sliced by the new president at one of the balls. The Tiffany box gift presented by Melania Trump to Michelle Obama,… Read More ›
Presidential Inaugurations
Former Presidents Who Attended Inaugurations – And Didn’t
They may not like him, but they’ll be there. Despite the fact that Bill Clinton’s wife ran a hard campaign against the president-elect for the presidency, that Jimmy Carter spoke of him as a danger and that George W…. Read More ›
Presidential Kids at the Inauguration
At Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony today, as well as the private one held yesterday, his 2009 Inauguration as President and his 2005 oath as a United States Senator, it was not just his wife but his two daughters Malia and… Read More ›
That Mysterious Woman at Obama’s Sunday Inaugural Ceremony & Historical Context
In politics, you can never anticipate just who will pop into the pictures of history. Earlier today, January 20, 2013, President Barack Obama repeated the first of two oath-of-office clauses and was sworn into his second term as President. Tomorrow,… Read More ›
Chaplin, Streisand, Sinatra & More: The Inaugural Gala That Was
For half a century, it was a quadrennial display of the performing arts, a time capsule of the nation’s pop culture, a snapshot too of the varied entertainment tastes of the President about to assume office. It was called the… Read More ›
The Very First Inaugural Ball: Hot for Her, Not for Him
Of all the traditional events associated with a Presidential Inauguration, the most frivolous one of the Ball is often equated with as much importance in the public imagination as the Inaugural Address, in which the new leader outlines his vision… Read More ›
Reagan’s 1985 Big Chill Sunday Inauguration with Videos, Part 7
Unlike Eisenhower’s private Sunday swearing-in ceremony in 1957, which banned television cameras and limited the recording of the event to two still black-and-white pictures, the first of Reagan‘s two second-term oath-taking on that day of the week was carried live… Read More ›
Ike’s Mid-Century Cold War Show & High Visibility Veep: The 1957 Sunday Inauguration, Part 6
It was precise and orderly, with a sense of Cold War automatism. It was modern and moved along smoothly. It was the Mid-Century version of the Sunday Second Inauguration and it started and ended without a glitch. In fact, from… Read More ›
Bomb Threats, Suffragists & Wilson’s Broken Pledge: The 1917 Sunday Inauguration, Part 5
Swear on a Sunday? No problem, if your Sunday Inauguration happens to also be your second Inauguration. Six of President Obama’s predecessors also had Inauguration Days which fell on a Sunday, but only three were also being inaugurated for a… Read More ›
The Secret Ceremony of Hayes & a First Lady Who Wouldn’t Leave: The 1877 Sunday Inauguration, Part 4
The fact that the 1877 Inauguration fell on a Sunday was a pale factor in making it the most compelling stories of these historic occasions, compared to the drama leading up to it. By the time the calendars had fated… Read More ›
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