Traditions and changes
If I asked you to sum up the 2008 presidential election in one word, you might think of the word "change."
Such a thought is appropriate given the term's buzz-worthy status in the election, and change is certainly all around us as we anticipate the presidential inauguration. The 2009 inaugural theme even attests to change: "A New Birth of Freedom."
Yet my intention in writing this article is to encourage you, regardless of your party affiliation, to take a few moments to appreciate what has not changed in the tradition of the Inauguration.
The presidential inauguration occurs on Jan. 20 following an election, as mandated by the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution. It is a day-long celebration that invests the president-elect with the power of the presidency, complete with parade and formal parties as bookends to the main event: the Oath of Office and Inaugural Address.
This year's main event will commence at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and, like all public Inaugurations since President Harry Truman's in 1949, will be broadcast live on major television networks.
The Inaugural Address immediately following the oath is one of the most crucial aspects of the entire celebration, as it publicly defines the president.
Whereas the annual State of the Union Address sets a president's political agenda for the year, the Inaugural Address sets a president's ideological agenda for the entire term by explicitly recognizing the power of the office and the primary values guiding the officeholder's actions.
But the speech is much more than a proclamation of the president's principles; it also asks the audience to contemplate who they are by inviting "the people" to participate in the president's vision of America.
The ceremonial speech is one of the most enduring traditions in American society that, from its inception, demonstrates the power of presidential speech: George Washington's utterance the presidential oath for the first time on April 30, 1789 used the power of words alone to become the first President of the United States, and the first act ever executed by a president was a speech - his Inaugural Address.
Consequently, although many presidents have passed away, their Inaugural words live on in infamy because they speak to lasting American beliefs: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right"; "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"; "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."
While the ceremony has changed over the past 220 years (such as its shift from March to January), the characteristics that guided Washington's address persist as we witness the passing of the presidential torch this month.
I encourage you to watch the inauguration, hopefully with a better understanding of its purpose.
And as Obama delivers his first speech as President, you should recognize that his inauguration brings not only change but tradition, evident in the inevitable way that he will ask you to participate in an enduring vision of America bound to timeless values.
Jeff Drury
Communication and dramatic arts assistant professor
