Today, I am thankful for new beginnings and the hope they bring.
The month of February came and went, and I never got the time to wish George Washington a Happy Birthday. In fact, good-ole George celebrated his 288th birthday just a few weeks back on February 22. As one of our nation’s founding fathers, as well as the Father of the American Revolution, Washington went on to become the United States’ first President, ultimately setting a legacy of moral integrity, a standard for civil discourse, and the precedence of limited political power – the last of which I am most grateful. In fact, after his second term in office ended in 1896, George Washington stepped down from the office. Back then, he was not mandated to do so, but he chose to limit the presidency to two terms, so, as we learn in the musical Hamilton, ‘the nation can learn to move on.’
So, we did, with the eventual passage of an amendment to the US Constitution limiting the time in the highest office in the land to just two terms. Its ratification afforded the nation the opportunity to welcome in a new President and his respective Cabinet at least once every 8 years. And, there’s no better way to welcome someone than with an inauguration.
In fact, for over 140 years, today (Mar 4) was traditionally held as Inauguration Day. In a time without electronic technology and sophisticated, high-speed travel, the 4 month ‘lame duck’ period between November and the early March Inauguration Day was essential to ensure time to count the votes and allow travel for the elected winner to the nation‘a capital. Eventually, in the 1930s, the advent of technology to tabulate the vote electronically and the birth of the automobile and airplane allowed for the lame-duck session to be reduced to a little more than 2 months, with Inauguration Day officially convening on January 20.
Although generally uneventful, some Inauguration Days led to some inauspicious beginnings. Like the time Andrew Jackson invited the American public to his new home after the 1829 Inauguration, ultimately resulting in the White House being trashed and the president having to make a getaway out the window. Or the time William Henry Harrison chose to give the longest inauguration speech outdoors in the rain and snow in 1841. Sadly, he caught pneumonia and died in office 30 days later. Or the time the oath was administered to Lyndon B. Johnson on an airplane because John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed earlier that day.
A new beginning can be a wonderful thing. Celebrate and relish it, even if it does not exactly turn out the way you had planned.
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