On January 20, 2017 the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, a member of the republican party was inaugurated at the capitol in Washington D.C.. The inauguration was the most expensive in U.S. history with the cost coming out to around $107 million, most of this money was donated by wealthy donors such as Charles Schwab and Bank of America. The number of people that attended the inauguration is estimated to be around 300,000 – 600,000 but Donald Trump denies this claiming that the media purposely reported a lower number than the true attendance.
Majority of the people in attendance were white and could be seen with red caps displaying the words “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) in white lettering across the front. There were many protestors outside in the streets that were there as well selling anti-Trump merchandise and displaying anti-Trump signs. At the inauguration, Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office as Trump had his hand on two bibles one being his personal one and the other being Ronald Reagan’s.
The new president delivered a short speech that only lasted about 16 minutes and included many issues from a border wall to poverty in the U.S.. Senator John Mccain called the speech “A continuation of the campaign that won him the presidency.” The inauguration was very classy between the new president and former presidential family, the Obamas who had tea with the Trumps and left by helicopter. The same can’t be said for what was going on in the streets, throughout the day there were many riots and protests.
Elizabeth Randall was an eyewitness to the protests and said she saw many different things including newspaper vending machine set on fire, many anti-Trump signs, screaming, and chants. At one point she said a large group of protestors were blocking off a street and refusing to let anyone with a MAGA hat through and proceeded to scream at the them and yell many things. Trump’s inauguration was not your normal one from the large amounts of money being spent to the crazy riots resulting in the arrests of 90 people.
Democrat Jimmy Carter was elected to be the 39th president of the U.S. on January 20, 1977 at the capitol in Washington D.C.. The inauguration was not a super expensive one as Carter spent about $3.5 million of money from donors to fund the celebration. A little over 250,000 people attended many whom were african american, as Carter was popular with them in the voting. There was many people there to watch the parade and listen to Martin Luther King Sr. give a speech. In that speech he said “God grant praise over our president will have more care for the least of these.” Jimmy Carter’s speech was very short and only about 15 minutes long, he talked of many things including how everyone deserves equality and justice.
Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the oath of office who hand his hand on the bible used by George Washington in the first inauguration in U.S. history. Instead of taking the traditional limousine ride to the white house, Carter, his wife, and his daughter walked 1 ½ miles to the destination, because Carter was a “People’s president” as he like to describe it. The weather was freezing as well, according to an eyewitness account of that day from Tom Moore the weather seemed to never get above the 20s and he had to walk to a hotel and sit in the lobby for a while to thaw himself. Jimmy Carter’s inauguration was one for the people just like he had hoped for.
Donald Trump’s On Inauguration. (2021, Dec 26). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/donald-trump-s-on-inauguration/