Just like George Washington, President-elect Barack Obama will place his hand on a Bible to take the oath of office and read his inaugural address. And that’s about the last thing Washington would recognize.
Washington rode nearly 300 miles on horseback to his own inauguration in New York on April 30, 1789, greeted along the way by cheering crowds.
A laurel crown was staged to drop onto his head as he crossed a bridge in Philadelphia, and impromptu groups of veterans and militiamen rode up to escort him.
Obama may see similar crowds as he makes his journey to Washington, D.C., by train for his Jan. 20 swearing-in, but amid heavy security.
With hundreds of rooftop marksmen and thousands of police and guardsmen deployed throughout Washington, inaugural parade participants have been told not to make any sudden moves or turn their heads to look at Obama as they pass his reviewing stand.
And you certainly won’t see Obama getting roped by a lariat, which happened to President Dwight Eisenhower, by a man dressed as a cowboy, during a six-hour inaugural parade in 1953.
The crowd at Obama’s inauguration may be unprecedented; even more so the ever-expanding invisible audience: Harry Truman’s 1949 inauguration was the first to be televised; Obama’s will be podcast to cell phones and mobile devices around the world.
Still, some traditions have held: Washington’s swearing-in was capped by cannons. Modern tradition calls for a 21-gun howitzer salute.
As for inaugural ball traditions, President Washington is said to have danced two cotillions and a minuet at the first ball — although not with his wife. Martha didn’t arrive in New York until a month after the inauguration.
The first official inaugural ball was hosted in 1809 by James Madison’s wife, Dolley. Guests did minuets and waltzes.
Modern presidents have to attend multiple inaugural balls, so they rarely take more than a brief turn around the dance floor with their wives; sometimes, they just wave to the crowd and race to the next venue.
President and Mrs. Obama are expected to drop in on at least 10 inaugural balls. And they definitely won’t be dancing a minuet.
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