Inauguration Day 2013

Day before Inauguration 2009

No matter who takes the Oath of Office as President of the United States of America, the inauguration is an exciting event.  The ceremony is a public display of the peaceful transition of power from one person to another, and for second-term Presidents it is the peaceful continuation of power.  Despite the incredible amount of security involved this day is open to citizens and several hundred thousand people go down to the National Mall to get as close as they can to the swearing in.

I was there when Bill Clinton took the Oath in January 1993.  Every four years since I said I would go but, well, it’s cold in January in DC.  And I hate crowds.  So I usually talk myself out of it.  Last time I actually had a chance to be in the media gallery but that would have required being there four or five hours ahead of time, so I helped arrange for another of my media co-workers to go instead.

It is still exciting to me to be only fifteen miles away today, watching the continuous television coverage on my choice of at least twenty different channels.  This is a great country!