Obama to follow Lincoln inaugural tradition

Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration in 1861 attracted 20,000 attendees, straining the ability of the capital to house the visitors, compared to the anticipated two million witnesses who will jam Washington, D.C. when President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office with his hand on the “Lincoln Bible” brought from the archives of the Library of Congress.
With Lincoln’s inauguration only a few days away, William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, was informed that the President-elect’s personal Bible was among family possessions being shipped from Illinois by slow train. Although not legally required, by tradition the new chief executive would take the presidential oath spelled out in the Constitution with his left hand on the good book.
From his own funds, Carroll purchased a Bible bound in burgundy-colored velvet with gilt-edged pages. President-elect Obama asked that the historic Bible, which had passed from Carroll to Lincoln’s son, Robert, and then to the Library of Congress, serve its special purpose for the second time. It would also reinforce the connection between the two men elected from Illinois at a time of national crisis. Both Obama and Lincoln had begun their journey toward the presidency from Springfield, Ill., with nearly identical résumés of two years in Congress and eight years in the Illinois legislature.
The presidential inauguration next week will be quite different from 1861 in many ways. In 1937, the date of the inauguration was moved from March 4 to Jan. 20 by constitutional amendment in order to shorten the four-month “lame duck” period following the election of a president in November. The date change also meant that the weather would be colder – averaging only 37 degrees with the possibility of a paralyzing freeze.
Modern transportation has made it possible for millions to cram into the capital. Television, radio, and the Internet will provide instantaneous coverage of the events, while in 1861 the short-lived Pony Express carried Lincoln’s inaugural address west to San Francisco in seven days.
The 1861 Bible emergency was a minor crisis compared to the specter of rebellion that was then facing the United States. Since Lincoln and his family had left Springfield by special train on Feb. 11, six southern state legislatures had voted to leave the Union and join the Confederate States of America, which swore in Jefferson Davis as its president on Feb. 18. There were rumors that the most emotional secessionists were pledging that Lincoln would not live to be inaugurated.
The Lincoln train passed through Indiana and northern Pennsylvania and then turned south through New York State to New York City, with Lincoln greeting crowds and attending receptions along the way. Lincoln reached Philadelphia the afternoon before Washington’s birthday, where he was scheduled to raise the American flag and make a public speech at Independence Hall before finishing that day speaking in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg. The following afternoon the train would pass through Baltimore, which was still in the Union but filled with pro-Confederate fanatics whose threats were more than barroom bombast.
Since no official government security organization existed, Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Chicago detective bureau, had been quietly retained by the railroad to protect Lincoln on his way to Washington. Pinkerton met the President-elect at his hotel in Harrisburg and reported he had personally infiltrated two secret rebel organizations in Baltimore that bragged they planned to assassinate Lincoln when the crowd greeted his train. Also meeting Lincoln was the son of New York governor William Seward with a message that a New York City police chief named John Kennedy had similar dire intelligence from Baltimore. Pinkerton urged Lincoln to cancel the Independence Hall appearance and immediately catch a train to Washington instead. Lincoln insisted on appearing to honor the Declaration of Independence.
However, Lincoln agreed that after a dinner in Harrisburg he could be secretly spirited to a two-car train, which raced back toward Philadelphia, where in disguise, he transferred to a reserved final car on a scheduled train to Washington. It chugged through a sleeping Baltimore at 3:30 a.m. and arrived in the capital at dawn. He was ensconced at Willard’s, the largest and most modern hotel in the city, before anyone knew he had arrived.
A 12-story 1901 Beaux Art version of the Willard stands today at the same location. A bankrupt derelict in 1968, it was rescued by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, of which Sonoma architect John Woodbridge was director, and re-opened to critical acclaim in 1986.
Benjamin Brown French, president of the local Republican Association, was in charge of the 1861 inauguration arrangements. Once a Jacksonian Democrat, French had been clerk of the House in the 1840s, and commissioner of public buildings under President Franklin Pierce. Nowadays, the inauguration is organized by a committee, with coordination of numerous agencies and civic organizations.
Security for the presidential party, officials and spectators is currently under the firm, detailed and highly professional direction of the Secret Service, created in 1865 and made responsible for presidential protection first in 1894 and for the President-elect since 1908. Numerous Secret Service agents enforce rules, investigate all potential dangers and are prepared to “take a bullet” for the president. Just as in 1861, the armed forces will supplement security efforts during Obama’s installation.
Joined at Willard’s by his wife, Mary, and his two sons, Lincoln met with the three presidential candidates he had defeated and conferred with President James Buchanan, who was frozen in despair by the potential southern rebellion. Lincoln spoke to delegates to a “Peace” convention convened by ex-President John Tyler, worked on his inauguration address with advice from New York governor William Seward and selected his cabinet, convincing each cabinet member to take the job.
French recruited a committee of about 60 to assist him and form a mounted escort to lead the inaugural morning procession from Willard’s to the Capitol. Each rider sat on a blue-and-white saddlecloth, wore a blue scarf and carried a gold-headed baton. The parade was delayed because President Buchanan was late arriving at Willard’s since he was slow signing his final documents as president.
Following numerous officials, representations of civic organizations and military units, Lincoln and Buchanan rode to the Capitol in an open carriage, Lincoln having declined a closed barouche. Troops of cavalry and infantry trotted alongside, shielding the presidential carriage. A patrol of cadets from West Point led the way, looking out for land mines and bombs. Soldiers with fixed bayonets lined Pennsylvania Avenue. Old General Winfield Scott, Army chief of staff, had stationed two riflemen at each window in the upper wings of the Capitol, maintaining a watch on the crowd below. More squads of cavalry stood at attention at the entrance to streets leading to the Capitol grounds. General Scott took personal charge of an artillery battery on a hillock overlooking the scene.
In 1861, the principal participants were ushered into the Senate chamber to witness the swearing-in of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin. Under the procedure adopted in 1937, Sen. Joseph Biden will be administered the oath as Vice President by the senior Supreme Court justice, John Paul Stevens, from the outdoor podium just before the new president is sworn in.
Beginning in 1981, inaugurations have been conducted from a platform on the western front of the Capitol, instead of the east portico. Senate rules chair Dianne Feinstein will call the proceedings to order and speak briefly, starting two hours before the expected presidential oath. In addition to the Marine Band and the Navy Band, this year’s musical performances will include the San Francisco Boys’ Chorus and Girls’ Chorus, singer Aretha Franklin, and a quartet of violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill. At Obama’s request, Yale professor Dr. Elizabeth Alexander will read an original poem -– the fourth poet to do so.
Once Mary Lincoln, the Lincoln boys, President Buchanan, members of Congress and other dignitaries had been ushered to seats on the east portico, Lincoln entered wearing a new black suit and shiny top hat and stepped forward to take his seat at the rostrum. He had reversed the traditional agenda by choosing to deliver his inaugural address before taking the oath of office.
Sen. Edward Baker of Oregon rose and simply announced in a loud voice: “Fellow Citizens.  I introduce to you Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect of the United States.”
There was an awkward moment when Lincoln stood up, lifted his top hat and looked for a place to rest it. Seated behind him, his recent Democratic presidential opponent, Sen. Stephen Douglas, reached out and took the hat. Then Lincoln pulled spectacles from his pocket to read his speech.
Although naturally high-pitched, his voice was firm, forceful and easily heard by most of the crowd that stood in preternatural quiet to catch every word of his determined yet conciliatory address to the American people, both northern and southern. When President-elect Obama places his hand on the Lincoln Bible and repeats the oath to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and declares his hopes for America, more than a billion people will hear it all.
Upon Lincoln’s closing words, wizened 81-year-old Chief Justice Roger Taney lifted Carroll’s Bible in shaking hands as Lincoln swore to support and defend the Constitution. General Scott’s cannon fired 21 booming blanks and the inauguration ceremony was abruptly over.
A post-inaugural parade proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House for a reception. The highlight of the procession was a red, white and blue float drawn by four white horses and sponsored by the local Republican Association, which carried 34 pretty young women in white gowns, representing each of the states of the union. At the White House, French introduced the new president. According to French’s daily journal, a charmed Lincoln asked “to be allowed to kiss them all, and he did so,” to much applause. Several newspapers reported the kisses, but Carl Sandburg, esteemed Lincoln biographer, commented that the story “made interesting reading but was neither true nor important.” (“The War Years,” Volume One, page 121). Of course, French was present and wrote contemporaneously and Sandburg was neither.
President Obama and family will participate in a parade following the same route riding in a heavily armored limousine.
Despite the gloom of potential civil war, that evening the Lincolns attended the Union Ball. The new president shook hands for two hours and then led the grand march. Mary Lincoln dressed in high fashion and danced for hours to the music of the Marine Band.
There will be 10 “official” 2009 inaugural balls (including four regional parties and a “Youth Inaugural Ball”) sponsored by the inauguration committee along with more than 20 other major functions.
On Inauguration Day, President Lincoln was already at work. On March 2, Gov. Seward had written a note declining appointment as secretary of state. During the afternoon of Inauguration Day, the President wrote a note urging the governor to “countermand the withdrawal … in the public interest” and had it hand-delivered.
On Jan. 20, the Lincoln Bible will be put to good use once again, and a new president will go right to work.

Gerald N. Hill is co-author with Kathleen Thompson Hill of “The Encyclopedia of Federal Agencies and Commissions,” “The Facts on File Dictionary of American Politics” and more than 20 other books. He is also an adjunct professor of political science at Sonoma State University.