...Inaugurations have taken place during times of war and peace; in Depression and prosperity. Our democracy has undergone many changes, and our people have taken many steps in pursuit of a more perfect union. What has always endured is this peaceful and orderly transition of power.-President-elect Barack Obama, in his weekly radio address this morning, on the ritual "that goes to the heart of our greatness as a nation."
For us, it is easy to take this central aspect of our democracy for granted. But we must remember that our nation was founded at a time of Kings and Queens, and even today billions of people around the world cannot imagine their leaders giving up power without strife or bloodshed.
As we approach the inauguration of Barack Obama, USW will, over the course of the next few days, celebrate peaceful transfers of power from the recent past. It's that transfer of power, dramatic in its peaceful order, that makes America so great. Each new leader comes to power, not at gun-point or coupe, but by request of the American people via state elections.
First up, Bill Clinton's first inaugural from January 20, 1993. After twelve years of Republican rule - two terms from Ronald Reagan and one term from George H.W. Bush - the Democrats were able to win the White House following a slight economic downturn brought on by rising budget deficits and a Hoover-like resistance by Mr. Bush to put forth policies that would help the country pull out of it.
It is those inaugurations where a sitting president is defeated for a second term in which our system of government is especially dramatic. The opposition won the election, and the sitting government, respecting the majesty of American democracy, accepts their decision and takes part in the swearing in of the new chief executive before departing the White House. There aren't many countries where such a transition isn't done by coupe or military battle.
And so, behold as the presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush, Republican, comes to an end at 11:59:59 on January 20, 1993, and the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, Democrat, begins at 12 noon...
