Since the inauguration of America’s first president in 1789, each ceremony has brought a new quirk to mark in history. George Washington delivered the shortest speech, a mere 135 words, during his second inauguration while William Harrison’s 1841 inaugural speech was a whopping 8,445 words, lasting nearly two hours. Warren Harding was the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile and Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first and only president to be elected to a fourth term.
The inauguration ceremony has also seen the birth of some of the most famous lines in history, such as Kennedy’s famous words, “Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country,” and Lincoln’s, “With malice toward none, with charity for all,” spoken at the close of the Civil War.
It is not difficult to guess what Barack Obama’s inauguration has brought to history. Standing before an unprecedented 1.8 million supporters, the first black president was sworn into office at noon on Jan. 20. Attendees traveled from miles around and braved freezing temperatures to watch Senator Barack Obama become President Obama of the United States of America. Several State students made the trek to the nation’s capital to watch the historic event. Below are first-hand accounts of what some students witnessed during their trips to Obama’s inauguration ceremony.
Abby Cranford
Sophomore in First Year College
Four friends and I left Raleigh Sunday afternoon on the Inauguration Express — a 15-year-old green van that was destined for Baltimore, MD, where a friend of one of our fellow travelers lives. We stayed in Baltimore for two nights, and on Tuesday we got up at 3 a.m. and parked in a residential area in the outskirts of D.C. around 5 a.m. The walk to the train station was about a mile and a half long, and once we made it into the city it was about 7 a.m.
While in the city, we walked around the vendors selling Obama-themed buttons, shirts, scarves and posters, while at the same time trying to find a way to get into the Mall because we didn’t have any tickets. Most of the streets were blocked off because of the parade.
We passed a protest, where the people wore black bags over their heads and donned orange jumpsuits. They were holding signs that said they wanted Guantanamo Bay closed in 100 days. It was actually kind of creepy. We continued walking around the blocked-off streets to get a spot at the Washington Monument, where we stood and waited for the concert and the inauguration to start. We didn’t have to wait long, because the concert started soon. I could hear what was being said, but it was not in sync with the live stream of the image on a Jumbotron far in front of us.
After the concert, when the politicians started arriving, the area around us started filling up quickly and started moving in front of us. I turned around and saw that, behind the monument, people were packed tightly in. The crowd just kind of stood still–frozen–for a while because it was so cold and crowded. When Barack came on stage to speak, the reaction of everyone in the crowd was a strong ‘Yes!’ When the screen showed Joe Biden, Michelle, and Barack Obama, people cheered loudly and waved flags. When it switched to Bush or Cheney, people would start booing. There was a pretty good response for the Clintons and a strong, local response for Jimmy Carter. Where we were, I didn’t know if the people who actually had tickets were booing Bush too, so I don’t know if it could be heard — my brother later told me that you could hear the booing on the television coverage of the inauguration. During the prayer, everyone was silent until the preacher said “Sashaaa!” and everyone — everyone — started laughing. We tried to chant “Obama” when he stepped up, but the crowd was so big that it got lost. When people to my left chanted “Oh,” the people on my right would already be saying “bama.” Everyone was obviously really excited when Obama started speaking.
Everything was going as well as it could have, up until we left. We hit no traffic up to Baltimore, and no traffic up to D.C., and arrived at the inauguration just in time. But then two million people had to leave – at the same time.
There was no way to be prepared for this onslaught of people into the streets. It took us three hours to walk 15 blocks. The atmosphere was really tense. People were exhausted, it was cold and it was a bit unnerving.
When we finally got to the train station, it was about 4 p.m., and we walked the mile and a half back to the car to drive back to Baltimore and stay the night. The next day, we barely hit any traffic on the way home to Raleigh.
Despite the harsh conditions, the mob of literally millions of people and the miles we walked to get there, it was difficult to focus on anything except how monumental this event was.
Andrew Bates
Junior in Political Science
Being an attendee at the inauguration was the reward of a lifetime. I first signed onto the campaign in February of 2007, directing Obama for America’s Youth Outreach in North Carolina. That summer, I interned in then-Senator Obama’s communications office in Chicago and returned for several stints, working press during the North Carolina primary and eventually taking leave from N.C. State for the fall of 2008 to join his staff for the general election.
For many of us who traveled to Washington from Raleigh this week, the swearing-in ceremony was the summit of a process that engaged record numbers of Americans – especially college students – to do all within their power to change the course of their country for the better and invest in a fresh vision. It was apparent at every event we participated in, from the inaugural concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to seminars at the Museum of National History, that the city was rippling with excitement.
Every person was relieved, joyous and on the edge of their seats due to the knowledge that they were on the cusp of such a tremendous and sorely needed change. Barack Obama epitomizes every quality that has been lacking in the Oval Office for the last eight years – a steady temperament, a keen mind, a willingness to absorb multiple points of view and an approach to governing that is rooted in effectiveness rather than brash partisanship.
To see him take the oath of office was indescribable and to watch him address the monumental challenges that his administration has inherited will be more so.
Douglas Massengill
Junior in Political Science
The inauguration of Barack Obama was, for me and my companions, the culmination of nearly two years of tiring work in many states and many capacities. Several members of the NCSU College Democrats, including Laura De Castro, Andrew Bates and Adam Gibbs went so far as to take semesters off from school for his candidacy and join his staff. Literally hundreds of others put in hour after hour knocking on doors and calling their peers to get him elected. 2008 saw unprecedented participation on the part of young people, and, as a person who has been active in the Democratic Party since before my high school years, it was very fulfilling that college students from across the country dedicated themselves to a campaign in the fashion that they did. In fact, North Carolina would not have broken for President Obama if it had not been for the youth vote – and that’s to say nothing of the countless voters beyond college age that were persuaded and mobilized by students. All this made the inauguration ceremony that much more surreal.
As I saw Barack Obama take the oath of office, I felt a surge of pride at how that moment instantly transformed our identity as a nation. Not many will argue that our country has been placed in dire straits by the policies of the last eight years, and Obama’s speech
symbolized a desperately needed new beginning.
His address was a perfect combination of new priorities and reaffirming age-old American principles. It made the challenge of driving through jammed traffic and negotiating the clogged Washington Metro system more than worth it. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
I’m looking forward with great anticipation to see how President Obama goes about steering our country in a new direction. Many of us also had the opportunity to attend the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s Youth Inaugural Ball. Yes, we attended to see top name performers such as Kanye West, Fall Out Boy and Aretha Franklin, but we were really there for the high point of the night: an appearance by President and Mrs. Obama meant to personally thank all of us for helping him be elected to the highest political office in our nation. This event, the first of its kind for an official inaugural ball, showed viewers in the United States and 64 other countries around the world that a new generation in America has taken charge of our future and we are making it clear that we are here to stay.
Travis Nathaniel Varner, Senator
Senior in Extension Education
We received tickets from our congressman to attend the Inauguration. We rented a car and drove to the Largo Center in Maryland and parked at the Metro Station there, where we slept until about 2 a.m. After a very short stay at the Riddick Hotel, we returned to the Metro Station to catch the first set of trains, which were already packed at 4 a.m. When we got off the train there was a line of about 2,000 people just in the train station waiting to go up the escalator. It was pretty insane but everyone was so nice. I’ve never been around such a large group of people where everyone was nice. No one was mean. No one would say no you can’ take a picture. It was really entertaining being around that many people and have things go so smoothly.
Our tickets were for the silver section, which was the farthest ticketed section. It put us in front of roughly 1.5 million people. There were two sections to silver–one behind reflecting pool and another across the street. It was gated so people wouldn’t get trampled trying to enter the section. Whenever they did open the gate, people would just flow through by the hundreds.The streets were chaos and as Obama had already promised, he created jobs through the thousands of vendors that lined the streets.
Whenever they would announce a Republican to the stage, it was quiet, and whenever they announced a Democrat, everyone would cheer. When they finally announced Bush, you can only imagine what a crowd of 1.8 million sounds like booing. On the flipside, when they announced Obama, it was like thunder. It was all 1.8 million attempting to clap through gloved hands. Whenever Obama spoke, you wouldn’t have been able to hear a pin drop. No one was talking on cell phones, no one was whispering, no one was text messaging–it was quiet. After the oath was over–you really had to be there to feel it, to feel the inspiration and the emotion that everyone was exuding. People were crying tears of joy.
As soon as he finished his speech, I grabbed my girlfriend’s hand and ran to the metro. About half of the crowd was trying to get out of there. There was about a thousand people in front of me and I couldn’t see the end of the crowd behind me. If you were to throw something up in the air, it would hit somebody. There was no space anywhere and if you fell down, it would not be good. It’s definitely an experience I want to share. No inauguration has ever drawn a crowd like that. Nothing like that has ever happened before.
