We were watching pre-inauguration coverage by CBS in 1993 when Walter Cronkite intoned, “No two Presidents have ever taken their oath of office with their hands on a Bible opened to the same verse.” Judy, from the “Show-Me” state, asked, “I wonder if that’s really true?”
People of a Certain Age, you know that the questioning of Walter Cronkite was like asking the Oracle at Delphi, “are you sure?” It was, however, the birth of the research and writing project that resulted in my having ISBN numbers for two editions of So Help Me God. To find an answer for Judy, I had to examine over 50 previous inaugural ceremonies. Once that was done, I was on my way to writing a book.
With the inauguration of the 45th President a little more than a week away, the fact that I am thinking about inaugurations is not surprising. And, because I have been speaking to retirement communities about So Help Me God and giving away copies, my interest has never really gone away.
I begin my talks with a funny story but move quickly to observe that the phrase “rancorous politics” is redundant. Nastiness is normal in presidential politics. John Quincy Adams refused to attend the swearing-in of Andrew Jackson, and Lincoln’s opponents freely compared him, negatively, to a baboon. In 1884, one party called their opponents the party of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.”
The negativity offends our sensibilities. So why do so many campaigns spend so much money on negative ads?
I point out to audiences that most of our presidents have taken office with nearly half (or more) of the populace opposing them. Which job have you ever taken where 50% of the people affected did not want you? Presidents who can claim to have united these United States behind their leadership have usually led the country in a war. Even then, there is a lively history in the U.S. of opposition to any and all of our wars. Every president promises to unite the country. Let’s hope they keep trying.
I also pose a quiz for the folks. What are the first words spoken by every president, from George Washington to Barack Obama? Answer: “So help me God.” The Constitutional oath ends with the words “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Once the oath is finished, the new president is official. George Washington added “so help me God,” and the tradition was started.
On a wall of the Reagan Library, “So Help Me God” is included in the etched oath, incorrectly, a common mistake.
Washington also began the tradition of swearing the oath on a Bible, a practice he borrowed from the coronation of kings and queens of Europe. Two presidents—John Quincy Adams, and Franklin Pierce—have elected not to use a Bible. Each used books of law. A third president used a Catholic Prayer Book. Bound in black and looking like a Bible, it was used on Air Force One in 1963 for President Johnson because no one could find a Bible. There is a story for each instance in the book.
Some presidents have followed Washington’s lead and sworn on an open Bible. He opened a Bible borrowed from the nearby Masonic Lodge randomly, to Genesis, fittingly to a verse about the beginning of things. Some presidents have even used two Bibles, usually a personal one on top of the one used by Washington.
The inaugural stands used to be constructed on the east side of the Capitol. President Reagan had them erected on the west side, facing the rest of the country.
Jimmy and Roslynn Carter got out of their car and walked in the Inaugural Parade, So has every President since.
Until the 20th century, few heard inaugural addresses. No microphones, no recorders, no radio or TV. Some of the addresses have not been memorable. Others have entered American mythology—Lincoln’s Second; FDR’s “nothing to fear but fear itself;” Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,” a paraphrasing of something said by Warren Harding in 1921.
One president died as a result of the pneumonia he contracted while making a two-hour long speech in freezing weather without an overcoat. William Henry Harrison died 39 days later.
The United States is unique in history for many reasons, not least of which is that enormous power transfers peacefully on a regular basis. We can all be proud of that even if we chafe at a particular president.
My book ends: “In nearly every instance, the unity noted by R.W. Apple and William Safire as the defining quality in the inaugural act has quickly fractured under the stress of practical politics…Inaugurations are a moment of cleansing when we all say we hope to be better, individually and as a nation, in our interactions with others. Often we fail. Yet sometimes we don’t. Through our presidents, in their proud and humbling moment of inauguration, we pledge to keep on trying to be worthy of being the city on the hill, to do justly and love mercy. So help us God!”
(Incidentally, Walter Cronkite was wrong.)
Daniel E. White
January 9, 2017