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When the next president takes the oath of office on January 20, 2009, he will continue a tradition that began with George Washington in 1789. To celebrate this ritual of democracy, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum has created “Called Upon By the Voice of My Country”, an exhibit looking at the history and the pageantry of presidential inaugurations. The exhibit will run from October 30, 2008, until April 19, 2009.
The exhibit will bring together priceless artifacts including:
- First Lady Laura Bush’s 2005 inaugural gown, publicly displayed for the first time, on loan from the White House;
- A fan made for Sarah Polk, wife of James Polk, for the 1845 inauguration;
- A handwritten letter from George Washington to James Madison (himself a future president) arranging the first inauguration (held in the then capital of New York City), in which Washington asks Madison to find him lodgings in “the style proper for the Chief Magistrate to live in.”
Visitors will also see five presidents’ personal copies of inaugural addresses, including the manuscript of the 1841 speech that killed William Henry Harrison, who delivered the 8,500-word text in a snowstorm and died of pneumonia a month later. Other inaugural speeches displayed in the exhibit include:
- Ronald Reagan’s handwritten second inaugural address (1985);
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s stirring second inaugural address (“I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished”, 1937) and his somber, wartime fourth inaugural address (1945);
- William J. Clinton’s second inaugural address (1997); and
- Richard Nixon’s first inaugural address (1969).
The exhibit, which also commemorates the fortieth anniversary of Richard Nixon’s first inauguration, will also display inaugural programs, medallions, menus, fans, statues, and posters from nearly every inaugural celebration in history.
Visitors will learn about the pomp of inaugural balls, the dinner served to Abraham Lincoln in 1865 (including calfsfoot and wine jelly, “almond sponge”, terrapin stew, and tongue en gelee), and the rowdy 1828 inauguration of Andrew Jackson that left the White House in tatters. The exhibit will also have a special section for students where they can take the oath of office themselves and learn fun facts about the presidents who “preceded” them.
“As Americans prepare to select a new president, this is the perfect time to reflect on two hundred years of presidential beginnings,” Nixon Presidential Library director Timothy Naftali said.
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