Democracy’s Big Day--Joy and Pageantry

WASHINGTON — The peaceful transfer of power in America--what George Bush called “democracy’s big day”--was celebrated Friday with moments of pageantry, solemnity, joy and politics as tens of thousands crammed into the monumental center of Washington to wait, jostle and crane for the barest glimpse of the inaugural excitement.

On an extraordinary sunlit winter’s day, with winds sending swirls and clusters of cloud across the sky, President Bush made the wait worthwhile for thousands of well-wishers by emerging from his new $600,000 limousine three times during the inaugural parade, walking down Pennsylvania Avenue with his wife, Barbara, at his side.

Clutching Mrs. Bush’s hand, the new President, hatless but wearing a gray overcoat and scarf in the sometimes biting wind, waved happily to the crowds who cheered in return and then shouted, “No, no, no,” whenever nervous Secret Service bodyguards succeeded in ushering the Bushes back into the limousine with the “USA-1” license plates.

“Did you see him walking?” a woman cried out to her children at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Street. “You got to see him and wave to him. All right!”

Bush handled the mixed mood of the day--the blending of happiness and history--with great ease and warmth.

A Few Minutes Late

He actually took his oath of office on the West Front of the Capitol a few minutes late--just after the noon hour set by the Constitution for the end of the term of President Reagan. Perhaps to make up for the lost moments, Bush, a hand on both the Bush family Bible and on the Bible used by President George Washington at his inauguration 200 years ago, got ahead of himself in repeating the oath, breaking in before Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist could finish reading the first few words.

But Bush soon calmed, his serious features forming into a half-smile as the oath neared its end and finally breaking into a full smile, practically a happy, boyish grin, when it was over. Then, for the first time as President of the United States, he heard a military band play “Hail to the Chief” in his honor.

The power of the symbol of an American presidential inauguration was demonstrated most clearly by 43-year-old Cynthia Levi of Chattanooga, Tenn. She had shown up before dawn at 4:30 a.m. to become first in line for the standing room at the foot of Capitol Hill. A Democrat, she explained simply: “I’m here because he’s our new President.”

Other patient enthusiasts included Paul Gleason, a history teacher from Lincoln, Ill., and his wife, Cheryl. “We’re used to standing,” he said. “This is my fifth inauguration.”

Levi and the Gleasons were joined later by more than 100,000 others--including a group of seniors who spelled out the message, “Good Luck Mr. President,” with a single letter on each of their blue shirts. All crowded beneath the hill to see and hear a distant figure of a new President take the oath and then deliver his inaugural address.

In a departure from most inaugural addresses, Bush, who had attended a non-televised service at St. John’s Church on Lafayette Square across from the White House in the morning, included a formal prayer in his own speech. Calling it his first act as President, he prayed to the heavenly father to “write on our heart these words: ‘Use power to help people.’ ”

With five enormous flags hanging from the Capitol--two copies of the 13-star flags from the first days of the republic in 1789 and three modern 50-star flags--Bush stressed the continuity of American history.

George Washington, the President said, “would, I think, be gladdened by this day. For today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began.”

In a message to schoolchildren watching the inauguration on television screens in their classrooms, Bush said: “Thank you for watching democracy’s big day.”

The inaugural parade, led by Bush and a presidential honor guard, also linked the new Administration with history, for inaugural parades have been a hallmark of presidencies since Andrew Jackson on horseback led his followers down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1829.

Almost 12,000 marchers, 54 bands, 79 floats and 457 horses took part in Friday’s parade along the 2.2-mile route between the Capitol and the White House. For some it was old hat. Robert Auguste, a trumpeter for the Connecticut 1st Company Governor’s Foot Guard, has marched in every parade since the John F. Kennedy inauguration of 1961.

“You have to feel proud and patriotic because you’re involved in it,” said Auguste, a 54-year-old plumber.

Some were obviously not supporters of Bush. Paul DiTeodoro, a 20-year-old member of the Purdue University marching band, wore a badge under his uniform supporting the defeated Democratic candidate for President, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts. But he was good-natured about his difference. “It’s better not to be too bitter about it,” he said.

Some high school students muted their excitement somewhat. Jane McDonald, who marched with Shawnee Mission Northwest High School of Kansas, said: “I like George Bush and I’m glad I came. But it’s kind of cold. . . . I hope we get to go to the Super Bowl next year.”

“We came because we want to see Bush,” said 13-year-old Lauren Rubin of Rockville, Md. “And so we could get out of school.”

A number of protest signs cropped up along the parade route when President and Mrs. Bush passed by. Some called on the new Administration to “Keep Abortion Legal” and “Free Nicaragua.” In one case of special pleading, followers of Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., the political extremist recently convicted in a fraud case, carried signs demanding: “Pardon LaRouche.”

But the protesters, though accepted without rancor, were vastly outnumbered by the cheerers and clappers along the parade route, including a large number who chatted in Spanish to their children, pointing out the strolling Bushes to them.

Although Mrs. Bush, wearing high-heeled shoes, often had to trot to keep up with the President along Pennsylvania Avenue, she rarely fell behind during all the many events of the day, chatting with friends, blowing kisses, waving, flicking a speck off the cheek of an Episcopal minister outside St. John’s Church.

And there was little doubt about the affection for her. When the Bushes showed up at church in the morning, some in the crowd of onlookers applauded Bush but shouted, “Hey, Barbara,” at her.

Donna Walbrecht of Alexandria, Va., attending only her first inauguration despite living in the Washington area for 20 years, said that she had done so partly because she liked the Bushes so much.

“Especially Barbara,” she said. “She’s marvelous. She’s a grandma. I’m a grandma. I say good for her.”

Staff writers Melissa Healy, Marlene Cimons, Micheal Shear, Tom Redburn and Brian Couturier contributed to this story.