ARLINGTON, Va. - s4story -- by Michael F. Bishop for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The First Inauguration of Ronald Reagan

On January 20, 1981—an unseasonably balmy day in Washington, D.C.—Ronald Wilson Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States. He had triumphed in a landslide election against the incumbent, President Jimmy Carter, who sat exhausted as his successor repeated the oath administered by Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States. Just weeks away from his 70th birthday, Reagan was the oldest person ever to become president.

It was the first presidential inauguration on the West Front of the Capitol; as he took the oath, the president-elect faced the American west from which he came. The fact that a much larger crowd could be accommodated was a bonus; the former actor was happy to have a bigger stage—and the precedent held; all future inaugurations (except for Reagan's second in 1985—moved inside the Capitol because of severe weather—would be there.)

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During the ceremony, 52 American hostages in Tehran were freed by the Iranian regime. They had languished in captivity for 444 days, and the timing of their release was a final swipe at President Carter. Their long ordeal—and the failure of an American military rescue attempt—nearly decimated Carter's popularity—already at a low ebb because of the persistent economic malaise. During the campaign, Reagan had asked the American public a simple, but effective question: "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?" In November, the electorate responded "no" decisively, and Reagan carried 44 states.

It had been a hard-fought and bitterly contested election. But during his inaugural address, in which he hailed the peaceful transfer of power, Reagan said to his predecessor:

Mr. President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition. By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our Republic.

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Only 56, Carter would live until the age of 100—longer than any other president; his body would lie in state in the Capitol just days before the 44^th anniversary of that warm day in Washington.

For more information about Ronald Reagan, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan.

https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/