Witnessing History in the Making

By Kera Bartlett ‘09

Lines of hundreds of portapotties could be seen in all directions, along with little green and blue huts with white roofs standing at attention. First aid and security tents were being erected on the grass and the distant sirens of a motorcade could be heard across the Mall. The wind that whipped around the Washington Monument was devastatingly cold, leaving my face frozen and a static overtone on the home video I was recording. It was three days before the Inauguration and I stood directly under the giant white obelisk looking towards the Capital dome in the distance, trying to imagine the million people that would soon fill the space. I walked around and looked back at the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool, imagining this space being filled with hundreds of thousands of people for the free public kick-off concert the next day and the overflow for Inauguration a few days after. But for now, it was quiet and all I could do was pray it wasn’t this cold for the big day. 

The next afternoon I went through the first of many security lines to attend the kick-off concert at the Lincoln Memorial, broadcast live on HBO for the world to see. It seemed all of Hollywood had turned out for the event as entertainers young and old did their part to celebrate America and its new beginning with President-Elect Obama. I was quickly caught up with the energy of the crowd and jumped and sang along to U2, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks and Stevie Wonder as the Jumbotron caught a candid shot of Barack Obama dancing in his chair next to his family. After the concert, my friend and I moved up to the VIP section against the flow of people, passing newsmakers like Senator John Kerry, Madeline Albright and Steven Chu as we made our way to the stage. Jack Black was making funny faces at the bald eagle that had been featured in the ceremonies as its handler and the nearby crowd laughed. But what we were really looking for didn’t come for about ten minutes. Barack Obama walked back on stage through a sea of black overcoats herding his entourage back to the motorcade. Being only 30 feet from the next President of the United States was thrilling and a once in a lifetime experience. I left feeling energized and ‘hopeful’ for the events of the historic days ahead.

Having already secured one of the coveted “golden tickets” for the Inauguration (mine was literally yellow but didn’t come in a chocolate bar), I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to begin my journey from Georgetown to the Capitol for the main event. I must have had a guardian angel that morning, because I made it there in record time despite the large crowds already forming in the subway stations. After securing some food and much needed hand warmers I put back on all my layers on and returned to the early morning cold.

The gates didn’t open until 8 a.m., so I had plenty of time to stand in line and watch it grow behind me as thousands of people poured out of Union Station by the minute. Vendors and journalists walked the lines as we stood shivering, watching the sunrise over the capitol dome. Once we made it through security and into our section, my new group of friends and I strategized to predict the best view once the section became filled with people, as it inevitably would. Having found a small knoll under a tree and having nothing else to do, I plopped onto the dusty grass, curled into a ball and tried to conserve heat. I was just one person, huddled under a tree with the realization pumping through me that everything was changing, and that amazingly enough, I was there. I felt small yet huge. Three hours to go.

After watching the sections slowly fill in from my low vantage point and feeling the warmth from the emerging sun, I stood up as the jumbotron screens blinked on. At first they showed only the empty stadium seating of the capitol steps, but the choirs soon began, filling the cold atmosphere with the music of the future. The arrival of many familiar politicians began to fill the screens speaking of their experiences and excitement to the growing crowd. My group looked at each other with shock when Joe Lieberman was loudly booed, but Colin Powell was cheered. We wondered aloud if Senator Lieberman was booed, what reception would President Bush get? Luckily for him, “Hail to the Chief” blared over the speaker system during his arrival, drowning out any discernable reaction from the crowd. As Senator Dianne Feinstein finished the introductions with, “You may now be seated” a ripple of laugher was heard through the millions standing in mall, huddled together for warmth. 

Over one million people had traveled hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles, endured hours of below freezing temperatures, to see a man recite a few timeless sentences. Granted, this didn’t go entirely according to plan, prompting sympathy from the crowd as the President to be and Chief Justice fumbled over the pledge. It reminded me of a nervous priest presiding over his first marriage ceremony, with the groom equally eager to get on with it. But soon after, President Obama returned to his calm and collected baseline and prepared to deliver the speech of his career.

The speech conveyed the harsh realities of the burdens he and the country faced, but maintained the hope that as Americans, no task was too great. Several moments stuck out, and I often caught myself not breathing as I listened to his words. In my little section of the crowd, his inclusion of “non-believers” in his survey of American religious diversity prompted soft cheers at being so publicly acknowledged. I see secularism as one of the rarely referenced last barriers in American politics, which given the not one but two benedictions at the Inaugural event, has a long way to go before being accepted in the mainstream.

Amid a flashing of cell phone cameras, the deed had been done, and a new President began presiding over the United States of America. Soon after, we watched as President Bush flew over the crowd in a helicopter, prompting gestures from many that remained in the Mall. I pushed against the flow of people to stand in the middle of the Mall for pictures, wanting to capture the moment, the ‘feeling’ and the enormity of what I had just shared with so many other Americans. I watched two national guardswomen, in full uniform, fall into a bear hug as one exclaimed, “We have a new boss… One that really understands us.”

Anticipating the bottleneck at every metro station for miles, I milled around the grounds and surveyed the vendors carrying a cup of much needed hot tea. When I finally did make it home, my housemates were watching the parade on the news when a newscaster made a comment that struck me. With over one million people, all crammed into a freezing outdoor place, there were no arrests or incidents of unrest. There were no protesters. There were no injuries reported, no security threats that caused alarm to the crowd. It reminded me of the feeling I had when I left Invesco Field after Barack Obama’s DNC speech. There was no pushing, no anxiousness, just calm at knowing that we were all experiencing history. Again I hoped that this calm, this feeling of being a part of something so much bigger than any one of us, would continue to be inspired by the President as he faced the immense task of putting this country back on track.

I flew back to Occidental the next morning. The plane ride headed west was clearly full of people who had come into Washington for the Inauguration. As we all passed out from shear exhaustion for the first three hours of the flight in our Obama t-shirts and beanie hats, I’m sure we all had the same sense of hopeful anticipation flowing through us. As my row woke up an hour before we were set to land, we smiled at each other and shared pictures and stories of our experiences, relishing this common bond we felt from a moment of historical significance. When we dispersed through the airport, Obama t-shirts going every which direction, it was bittersweet to know that my experience had ended, and yet somewhere within me, I knew, that it has only just begun.

 

This is the view looking back at the Washington Monument during the concert on Sunday. Hundreds of Thousands of people showed up to this free showcase, which was broadcast on HBO.

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This is a scene during the Inauguration when we were all watching the President, with the Capitol dome in the background. I alternated between watching the screen and using binoculars to watch up-close from my vantage point.

Here I am, cold and tired but happy, looking back at the mall after the Inauguration.

After the ceremony, this was the Capitol Dome where it had all happened.

A view of the Green Ball in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

The amazing Google party the night after the Inauguration.

 

 

Kera Bartlett is a senior Diplomacy and World Affairs Major. She can be reached at kbartlett@oxy.edu.