Presidential Inauguration: Walk or Limo?
January 3, 2004 1:59 PM Subscribe
History question: January 21, 1977. "The afternoon of infamy" for people in the limousine business. After having just been inaugurated, Jimmy Carter decides to exit his limo and walk with his family (and a large crowd) down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. What has been the trend since?
Presidential Inaugurations: Some Precedents and Notable Events.
From George Washington to George Bush, Speeches and Parades, Dances and Tradition. [NYT samizdat]
Every President since Carter has walked part of the inaugural route ...
GovExec magazine, 2001
Mr Bush delighted supporters by getting out of his limousine and walked the last block of the parade, holding hands with his wife Laura. - BBC
The Clintons notably, perhaps infamously, walked down Pennsylvania at first apart, then holding hands -- though that may have been 1997. (Oddly, I just read an article about this somewhere, showing the photograph, but I can't find it now.)
There's a lot of interesting trivia surrounding this; for example, the first lady never held the bible for her husband until Lady Bird Johnson in 1965, but it's been a tradition ever since. And certainly JFK was the first to attend without a hat, and I don't think any haberdashery has been seen since, Harrison's deathly cold be damned -- but Reagan's swearing-in took place indoors due to -2F weather.
posted by dhartung at 4:55 PM on January 3, 2004
From George Washington to George Bush, Speeches and Parades, Dances and Tradition. [NYT samizdat]
Every President since Carter has walked part of the inaugural route ...
GovExec magazine, 2001
Mr Bush delighted supporters by getting out of his limousine and walked the last block of the parade, holding hands with his wife Laura. - BBC
The Clintons notably, perhaps infamously, walked down Pennsylvania at first apart, then holding hands -- though that may have been 1997. (Oddly, I just read an article about this somewhere, showing the photograph, but I can't find it now.)
There's a lot of interesting trivia surrounding this; for example, the first lady never held the bible for her husband until Lady Bird Johnson in 1965, but it's been a tradition ever since. And certainly JFK was the first to attend without a hat, and I don't think any haberdashery has been seen since, Harrison's deathly cold be damned -- but Reagan's swearing-in took place indoors due to -2F weather.
posted by dhartung at 4:55 PM on January 3, 2004
From the memory.loc.gov site:
March 4, 1841 -- William H. Harrison
Longest inaugural address (10,000 words). Broke precedent by beginning address, taking oath, and then resuming address.
April 6, 1841 -- John Tyler
First vice president to assume the presidency due to the death of the president.
Heh.
posted by MiG at 5:47 PM on January 3, 2004
March 4, 1841 -- William H. Harrison
Longest inaugural address (10,000 words). Broke precedent by beginning address, taking oath, and then resuming address.
April 6, 1841 -- John Tyler
First vice president to assume the presidency due to the death of the president.
Heh.
posted by MiG at 5:47 PM on January 3, 2004
"And certainly JFK was the first to attend without a hat, and I don't think any haberdashery has been seen since"
posted by Grod at 5:53 PM on January 3, 2004
posted by Grod at 5:53 PM on January 3, 2004
Response by poster: Thanks!
From the BBC link...
posted by john at 6:00 PM on January 3, 2004
From the BBC link...
Police in riot gear lined the route of the parade five deep.I was curious if the security increases every year too. It certainly sounds like the last one was pretty secure.
posted by john at 6:00 PM on January 3, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by john at 4:29 PM on January 3, 2004