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In our senior apartment building, a few of the residents meet monthly to read their essay on a pre-determined topic--this time "Inaugurations." Thinking of "the proof is in the pudding," I came up with a comparison to weddings.
One difference is how long the ceremony will predict the life of the contract. A couple may have a gala affair during the "I do" promise and still have no assurance of making it a once-in-a -lifetime event. It's theirs to work on day by day.
It's quite different with presidential elections. When the Elected takes office, it is known that there is a limited time to serve and even a shorter time to make his mark on how the term will proceed. It's no accident that this has come to be known as a "honeymoon." During my lifetime I have experienced 20 presidential inaugurations. Some are quite memorable. The one in '33 is remembered by the mere child I still was--as a hope that the bank would not go under, and therefore my family could stay on the farm.
Not until 1961 was so much hoopla made over the President's credentials--the first Catholic to preside in the US Oval Office, and such a young one! The weather was so cold but JFK didn't wear a hat! Everyone liked Ike but the country was ready for a change, it was said. In 1969, Kennedy's old Senate buddy, whom he barely beat ln '60, took a turn. Richard Nixon took a swipe at bat, ultimately fanning out.
One can say that the 1977 event marked restraint. Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn walked from the Capitol to the White House reviewing stand. The country was in for gasoline rationing, a bad job market and high inflation. Thus, the affable Gipper rode in to declare it was morning in America. Ronald Reagan's legacy lives on, essentially for the next 12 years--it saw high inflation and a mini Iraq war--but in general the legacy of the "oldest" president resonates in current rhetoric.
Finally there was a generational shift and Bill Clinton, a man from Hope, made the motto work for him. He highlighted his rural roots by coming to town by way of Thomas Jefferson's plantation--a kind of Enlightenment, Baby Boomer style. At the end of his eight years, he holed up in Harlem and founded a foundation to address the problems of the world.
Unlikely to want to make waves, George W. Bush strode in on a mandate of a Supreme Court decision and announced the need for less interference in the world and less regulation at home. Little did he contemplate what "terrorists" had in mind for his watch. And the rest has now become history, still controversial as pundits try to outline his "legacy."
We have just experienced the ritual of inaugurating another president, this one high on Hope and Change--aren't they all? There hasn't been much time for Barack Obama to build up his legacy. Obama, from the Land of Lincoln, mimicked even the trainride which brought Honest Abe from Chicago to Washington D.C. If Public Relations counts, the current president knew what he was doing, since it's said that about one book a week is being published during this celebration of Honest Abe's 200th year of birth.
Maybe writing books is the best way of assuring that someone will remember favorably a president's legacy. Obama wrote two before he started campaigning. Perhaps the writers among us should keep his books--as a way to start a career in writing biographies.
If I'm around for my 21st inauguration experience, count me out. I'll be 90 when the next presidential election comes, and I may just decide to take time to watch the Summer Olympics.
