| Show wan M ji i n i j e li er at w C I r 1 4 1 I e By ELMO SCOTT WATSON IT rT T TAKES A ES place every four i years It marks the end of one era and the beginning of another in our history It is the symbol of a change which may vitally affect the lives and fortunes of millions of Americans But particularly it is a colorful colorful col col- dramatic spectacle which more nearly than any other event experienced in a democracy democracy racy resembles the pomp and pageantry of ancient customs For all aU these reasons every four years the eyes of the United United Unit Unit- ed States are centered on Washington D. D C. C where a anew anew anew new President is inaugurated or Of the incumbent in the WhiteHouse WhiteHouse White WhiteHouse House takes the oath of office a second time e Inauguration day this year will willbe willbe willbe be an historic event The principal principal pal reason reason is this As the result of the ratification of the twentieth otherwise known as the Norris or lame duck amendment to the Constitution I Inauguration day is being held heldon on January 20 instead of the traditional March 4 So to Franklin Franklin Frank Frank- lin Delano Roosevelt exponent of the New Deal falls the distinction of being the first President Pres ident dent to be inducted Into office under a new deal in Inauguration days Washington weather traditionally tradition ally capricious may be worse on January 20 than it usually has been on March 4 But capital capital capital cap cap- ital observers are wagering that included included in in- Roosevelt luck luck which has lucky breaks when weather conditions might affect his career will hold and that the skies will smile on his second inauguration even more than they did on his nis first Whether they are true prophets in that respect remains to be seen But it is rather certain that their prophecies in regard to the size of the crowd which will jam the streets of the capital on this day of days in our national national na na- history will be accurate possibly erring only on the side of an underestimate Last November November November No No- vember Roosevelt was re-elected re by the greatest vote of confidence any American had received since the time of George Washington A few days later he returned to the capital and was acclaimed by a crowd of an unprecedented unprecedented unprecedented un un- un- un tribute in blase and ordinarily unemotional Washing Washing- ton So there Is every reason to believe that January 20 will see seea a hegira of Americans to WashIngton Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington which will break all aU previous previous previous pre pre- records and a celebration of the event in keeping with its historic Importance Of course President Roosevelt has expressed a desire for a simple inauguration lIe He did that when the question of plans for the event were first broached But that doesn't mean that he will have it Other Presidents have made the same request and invariably it has not been grant grant- ed For the American people and more particularly those of Washington Washington Wash Wash- i ington want their big show every four years and they usually get it Jeffersonian Simplicity Tb Th President not only asked for a simple Inauguration buthe but buthe buthe he is also reported to have said that he favored Jeffersonian simplicity The only difficulty with that phrase is that the two words are contradictory w w h hen e n applied to an inauguration For despite the belief of most Americans Americans Am Am- in the familiar tradition about the inauguration of Thomas Thom Thom- as Jefferson who was the first President to take the oath of office in the city of Washington the fact is that it was not so simple and unostentatious That tradition is based upon a single paragraph in a book written by John Davis an English Eng Eng- lish traveler who was in Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington when the Sage of Monticello Monti Monti- cello became President That paragraph said His Ills Jeffersons Jefferson's dress was of plain cloth and he rode on horseback to the Capitol without a single guard or even a servant in his train dismounted without assistance and hitched the bridle of his horse to the palisades Davis evidently wrote that account account ac ao ac- ac count from hearsay rather than from witness eye-witness evidence For 1 nt 1 THOMAS JEFFERSON historians have dug Into contemporary contemporary newspaper accounts and have learned that instead of riding riding riding rid rid- ing horseback to the Capitol he merely walked a few blocks from Conrad and McMunn's hotel where he was staying to the scene of his inauguration The reason why he did not go o from the White House to the Capitol as became the custom in later years was due to the fact that John Adams angered by his defeat defeat defeat de de- de- de feat for re-election re and still harboring harboring harboring har har- boring resentment over the bitter bitter bit bit- ter things said about him during the campaign by Jeffersons Jefferson's followers followers fol fol- fol lowers in the Republican party had already left the city for his home in Massachusetts In doing this he broke the precedent which Washington had established of of the outgoing President being present when the Incoming Chief Executive took the oath of office Adams was not the only one one however who thus ignored that official courtesy The English travelers traveler's description description tion of the simplicity of Jefferson's Jeffersons Jeffersons Jefferson's Jeffersons Jefferson's Jeffer Jeffer- sons son's costume was accurate enough but that was about the only fact In his account of the Inauguration that was For instead in stead of being a quiet affair it was the occasion for considerable considerable considerable consider consider- able jubilation and ostentation not at all in keeping with the Idea of Jeffersonian simplicity According to one of the Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington newspapers the National The Cannons Boom The City of Washington presented a spectacle of uncommon uncommon un un- common animation occasioned by the addition to its usual population population pop pop- of a large body of citizens citizens cit cit- from adjacent districts Shortly after dawn there was wasa a discharge of artillery and about 10 the Alexandria company com com- company pany of with the com com- pany of artillery paraded in 1 front of the Presidents President's ings At 12 o'clock Thomas Jefferson Jefferson Jef Jef- ferson accompanied by a anum number num num- ber of his fellow citizens among among a a- mong whom were many members members mem memo bers of congress repaired to the Capitol His dress was as usual that of a plain citizen He lIe entered the Capitol under undera a discharge from the artillery This news story then tells how Chief Justice John Marshall administered administered ad ad- ministered the oath of office how Jefferson delivered his inaugural address and then started again for his hotel followed by a great creat throng of people It then continues continues con con- As soon as he withdrew a discharge discharge dis dis- charge of artillery was made The remainder of the day was devoted to the purposes of festivity festivity festivity fes fes- and at night there was wasa a general illumination From all of this it would appear appear ap ap- ap pear that even if President Roosevelt's Roosevelt's Roos Roos- evelt's request for an inauguration tion of Jeffersonian simplicity were honored his induction into office wouldn't be bo such a quiet affair Nor would It be that if he followed some of the precedents established by that other great Democrat Andrew Jackson Incidentally Incidentally In In- it is reported that the President has also suggested that the reviewing stand from which he will view the inaugural parade should be patterned after the Hermitage Jacksons Jackson's old home near Nashville Tenn Term and if this is done it will give a touch of Jacksonian atmosphere to this years year's inauguration The Peoples People's Triumph But it is doubtful if the spirit of the day will remotely resemble that of the time when Old Hickory Hickory hickory Hick hick- ory took office Certainly the scenes of that inauguration more than a century ago are not likely to be repeated Jackson also asked for a simple inauguration tion But how different was theone theone the theone one he got goll His election over o John Quincy Adams had been a triumph for the common pee- pee pul and they were determined to make the most of that fact So they swarmed into Washington Washing Washing- ton by the thousands Jacksons Jackson's arrival in the city was greeted by booming cannons rolling drums and a storm of shouting A cavalry company met him in the environs of the capital and escorted him to the National hotel to the accompaniment ment of booming cannon rolling S sZ r I ANDREW JACKSON drums and wildly cheering citizenry citi citi- The general had declared that he wanted no escort as he walked down Pennsylvania avenue avenue avenue ave ave- nue to the Capitol But he got one anyway Fifteen veterans of the Revolution all of them more than eighty years of age had met that morning and sent cent a aletter aletter aletter letter to Jackson asking for the honor of serving as his bodyguard body body- guard He lIe couldn't very well refuse refuse refuse re re- re- re fuse such a request from these venerable patriots so he accepted their invitation and they surrounded surrounded surrounded sur sur- rounded him hurt as he made his way to the place where Chief Justice Marshall was waiting to swear him into office Again history repeated itself For a Federalist John Adams Adams John Quincy this time time enraged enraged over defeat and smarting from the lash of campaign canards again refused to be present when his Democratic successor took the oath But his absence probably wasn't noticed by the people who were there to shout themselves hoarse for their idol Old Hickory Hickory Hickory Hick Hick- ory Jackson After the ceremony he started to leave the Capitol and found himself jammed tight in a mob When a path was finally cleared for him he mounted a horse and started up the avenue for the White House B Behind e h i n d him Wm streamed the mob some on horses others in carts or carriages carriages car car- but most of them on foot Jacksonian Riot Arriving at the White House this throng staged one of the most I remarkable scenes in the history of this country Here lIere is what a woman observer of that day wrote about it The majesty of the people had disappeared and a rabble a mob of boys negroes women and c children h 11 d r e n scrambling fighting romping took its place No arrangements had been made no police officers placed on duty and the whole house had been inundated by bythe bythe bythe the mob Cut glass and china to the amount of several thousand dollars dollars dol dol- lars had been broken in the struggle to get refreshments punch and other articles had been carried out in tubs and buckets but had it been in hi hogsheads it would have been insufficient Ladies Ladles fainted men were seen with bloody noses The windows were thrown open and tubs of liquor alias punch placed outside and thus the house was cleared of the mob It was estimated that persons composed it If the Jackson inauguration in 1829 1823 was a triumph for the people people peo pea plc the inauguration of a new President in 1841 was another and was accordingly although not so riotously celebrated Under Un Un- Under der Van Buren Jacksons Jackson's successor successor suc sue cessor the Democrats had gone I high hat and the Whigs staging I their dizzy hard cider and log i cabin campaign had elected their frontiersman candidate Gen William Henry Harrison During that campaign many marching clubs had been formed and it had been one of almost continuous processions So when it came time to induct induct in in- I duct Harrison into office the marching clubs were on hand and there were so many of them and so great was the enthusiasm that they generated that after they had finished escorting the new President to the White House to which he rode on a white whitehorse whitehorse I horse they tramped up and down Pennsylvania avenue for hours afterwards This was the beginning beginning begin begin- ning of the inaugural parade idea which steadily increased in favor especially after the Civil war and which has given the I pomp and pageantry flavor to toI I Inauguration day It will no doubt be much in evidence again when Franklin D D. D Roosevelt takes the oath of office rn en January 20 a new date in the history o 0 the American Presidency O C We Western t rn Newspaper Union |
