When Jimmy Carter won the presidency I attended St. Louis University and wrote for the student paper. Having a high school classmate at Georgetown University, I applied for press credentials for Carter’s inauguration. Despite not getting a reply, a friend and I set off for an overnight drive from St. Louis to Washington, D.C. a couple of days before the event.
The trip went well – until we got to Ohio. At the state border a monster sign proudly announced the national championship won by the Ohio State Buckeyes. My friend leaned out of the car and said, well, disparaging things about Woody Hayes and his team. God likes Woody Hayes. A few minutes later the blizzard found us. And stayed with us until Pennsylvania.
Jump to the night before the inauguration…dressed in nice suits and overcoats (winter was a thing back then), we attended an underwhelming Missouri Reception in a Capitol office building, then wandered over to the Capitol. My friend looked under the ceremony’s stand, we walked about the grounds, then stopped at a lighted trailer full of NBC people.
“How the #$*^ did you get here?” one guy asked.
‘Walking’ was not a correct answer. It seems we had, without effort, missed about four layers of security…Capitol police, district cops, Secret Service and the military. The network guys were impressed. One found a way to get us passes for the swearing-in.
As we were leaving the Capitol grounds a well dressed woman fumbled to find the correct pass, out of many, to let her into ‘the compound.’ My friend praised the police officer for doing his job.
So, the next morning, after a brisk jog from Georgetown to Capitol Hill (no buses on inauguration day) we entered an anonymous room in a Senate office building where a smiling gentleman handed us passes 999 and 1000 for the Senate Gallery. We showed no I.D., went through no security, we just said thank you. At the Gallery (actually, a lawn) a nice man from Georgia shared sips of medicinal warmth.
Crowds, speeches, bands, a parade and a lot of people. A good time was had by all.
Joe Biden’s inauguration won’t have crowds, bands, a parade or a lot of people. The militarized motif will recall Kabul or Baghdad. What traditionally stands as a patriotic Holy Day – the peaceful transfer of government – in the Age of Trump has become a worry of violence.
Donald Trump changed our country, perhaps permanently. Maybe the next inauguration day will be a great celebration. Probably not. This year may become our new normal. This is what Trump and mob action has wrought.
Back in 1977, after the inauguration activities I enjoyed a memorable night (including making a great friend in five minutes in a campus bar), followed the next day by an interesting drive home. It was a great experience, no longer repeatable.
Glenn
