A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Inauguration
You Can’t Get There From Here. On their way to the nation’s new capital for Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration, President John Adams and his entourage got lost in the woods and spent two hours trying to find the city of Washington.
Best Ruse for a Room. Washington’s hotels and boarding houses were booked solid for Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration in 1861; even mattresses in hallways and lobbies commanded top rates. As a result, many visitors to the nation’s capital feigned illness and tried to check into local hospitals.
Belly Up. Tickets for the first official inaugural ball were sold at the bar of Long’s Hotel, the site of the 1809 extravaganza (and the present site of the Library of Congress). John Quincy Adams apparently did not care much for the festivities honoring the new President, James Madison. “The crowd was excessive, the heat oppressive, and the entertainment bad,” Adams said. Madison himself was heard to murmur, “I would much rather be in bed.”
Inaugural Indulgences. Ulysses S. Grant’s second inauguration, in 1873, hit some gastronomic high notes. Among the items ordered for a feast at the inaugural ball: eight thousand pickled oysters, one hundred fifty pounds of boiled lobster, and twenty-four cases of Prince Albert crackers.
I Love a Parade, But Not at That Price. After being told that there would be no “freebie” tickets to President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 inaugural parade, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger was reported to have said: “If I have to pay $25, then I’ll charge Carter $50 to swear him in.”
A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose? Inaugural balls were untainted by commercialism until 1889 and Benjamin Harrison. Guests at his inaugural ball were given a rose laced with perfume, provided by a clever entrepreneur who wanted ball-goers to know that his scent could make wen a rose smell better.
Best Acts in an Inaugural Parade. First place: Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Troop, 1889. Runner-up: Apache warrior Geronimo, 1905.
Don’t Play It Again, Sam. Bandleader Meyer Davis wrote a special composition for one of Richard Nixon’s 1969 inaugural balls. An excerpt from the lyrics: “Julie, pass the crumpets/Tricia, serve the tea/David, entertain our friends/With news of Ike and Mamie.”
Legionnaire’s Disease of 1857. Scores of guests who were in Washington for James Buchanan’s inauguration were stricken by something that soon came to be called the “National Hotel disease.” Buchanan himself came down with a case of dysentery and remained under a doctor’s care for more than a month. Buchanan later returned to the hotel — against doctor’s orders —and the epidemic broke out again. The illness was soon rechristened “the Buchanan grippe.”
The Great Escape. Andrew Jackson opened the White House in 1829 to the inaugural mobs, and escaped the crush of the crowd only when aides formed a wedge and escorted him out through a back window. The mansion’s furnishings were ruined and the staff could not get the mob of twenty thousand to leave. They then hit on an ingenious idea: Tub of whiskey were moved progressively outward until the crowd was beyond the White House gates. Meanwhile, Old Hickory was sleeping soundly at the National Hotel.
Best Exit Line. Woodrow’Wilson, at the conclusion of ‘Warren G. Harding’s swearing-in ceremony in 1921, shook hands with the new President and his running-mate, Calvin Coolidge. Wilson then turned to his wife, Edith, and asked, “Are you ready to scoot?”
First Cure for Inaugural Insomnia. William Henry Harrison’s 1841 inaugural address lasted for one hour and forty-five minutes, a record for long-windedness that has never been broken. In it, he promised not to seek a second term. He died of pneumonia a month later.
Worst Performance in a Supporting Role. For his 1865 swearing-in as Lincoln’s vice president, Andrew Johnson arrived in the Senate chambers roaring drunk. His behavior — marked by rudeness to his colleagues and a confused, rambling speech — brought scorn from Lincoln and ridicule from the public. “Don’t let Johnson speak outside,” Lincoln ordered.
Hail to the Chief? New York Democrats were understandably upset over the questionable defeat of their governor, Samuel J. Tilden, in the 1976 election. Rutherford B. Hayes’s inaugural speech the following March was punctuated by rude outbursts from the audience, the first (and, presumably, the last) time Bronx cheers were heard at a swearing-in ceremony.
Memory, Don’t Fail Me Now. William Howard Taft took his oath of office on March 4, 1909. But twenty years later, as chief justice, he jumbled the words of the oath as he administered it to Herbert Hoover. Instead of reciting the phrase “preserve, protect, and defend,” it emerged from Taft’s mouth as “preserve, maintain, and protect.”
Cheapest Inauguration. Of $25,000 appropriated by Congress, Franklin D. Roosevelt returned all but $526.02 to the Treasury for his fourth inauguration in 1945. The only expense was a White House luncheon with members of Congress, and the menu was nothing special: cold chicken salad, rolls (with no butter), and cake (with no frosting).
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2001 issue of Regardie’s Power.
Bill Hogan