Inauguration Day

When George W. Bush takes his oath of office at Noon Washington time today he will set in motion the final four years of the Bush Presidency. While Democrats bemoan the idea that it coulda, woulda, shoulda been their guy, the Republicans will claim hold over Washington for four more years. And possibly set the stage for continued dominance over the American political landscape for years to come.

Following the oath of office, the Bush Inaugural speech is expected to touch on the theme of freedom and liberty, both in America and around the world. The speech which apparently went through twenty one re-writes before being delivered to the President, follows in a long line of inaugural speeches. Most of which were quickly forgotten, banished to the dumpster of history due to boredom, lack of message or just plain bad writing and even worse delivery.

Over the years there really haven't been many speeches given on the 20th of January following an election, that have caught the fancy of the American public. George Washington's second speech in 1793 probably did, being the shortest one ever made at 135 words, he no doubt won over many a disgruntled voter with his brevity of message.

More recently John F. Kennedy's certainly fired up the imagination back in 1961, daring American's to dream along with him, bear any burden and meet any hardship To a degree, Ronald Reagan recaptured some of that oratorical magic with his debut speech in 1981, when he called for the government to serve the people and not the other way around. But for the most part these political agenda setters, tend to be tedious and hardly provide a glimpse into any great dreams or missions planned.

The concept of Inauguration day itself has also taken on a life of its own, from simple beginnings it now runs over three days, features everything from rock bands to marching bands, gala dinners to fireworks and seems to cost more to organize than some countries have for a national budget.

This years celebration of the constitutional evolution of power will be the most expensive ever on record, ca ching, ca chinging in, at 40 million dollars, plus 17 million for security to ensure that the concepts of freedom and liberty don't get interrupted by any terrorist mischief.

There's much to be learned from the past speeches and events surrounding Inauguration day, but if there is one thing that George Walker Bush should learn from history it's this: Make your speech short and dress warmly, use the unfortunate William H. Harrison as your barometer of bad!

Harrison arrived in Washington for his Inaugural speech in 1841, gave the longest speech in Inaugural history, clocking in at 90 minutes and then went on a walk of the parade route, without benefit of hat or warm clothing on the bitterest of cold days. His walk into the driving ice storm would prove costly. One month later Harrison succumbed to pneumonia ending his presidency.

The speech can bore or it can soar, it all depends on the President, his writers and his material. But for George Bush there is a hard act to follow, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan, all touched the right points, defining their presidency and developing their legacies. George Bush gets one more chance to define his and it begins at noon!