The single most important elected positon in the world has spent the last four years smothered in darkness. There are a lot of incredibly important things he will do in the next days, months, years, but being inagurated in broad daylight, on the steps of the Capitol, for all the world to see, is the singularly most important thing that President Biden can do to reaffirm our Democracy. Taking the oath on the Capitol steps tells domestic terrorists, seditionists, and the rest of the world that the Presidency and the democracy continue, unbowed, unbroken; that the committment to transfer of power, regardless of attempted insurrection, continues in the most powerful, the richest nation the world has ever known. Doing so tells the world that we are once again committed to working on our problems and the world’s problems, without fear. The vislibility of US Military leadership, on the Captiol steps, supporting that orderly transfer of power, is potent. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should be heraled as courageous figures for recognizing the power and the necessity in this symbolic activity and for committing to it.
I’ve read many comments expressing great worry about President Biden and Vice President Harris being inaugrated in public, on the Capitol steps. These fears are legitimate. The fear that a few rogue National Guard, even Secret Service members, charged with protecting the President and Vice President, could, instead, attempt to assasinate them. We’ve read reports that a handful of the Guard have been relived of duty because of concerns over their connections to Trump and seditionists. Anwar Sadat and Indira Gandhi have been held up as examples of leaders who have been assasinated; Sadat by a rogue unit during a military parade, and Gandhi by a member of her security detail. It’s a legitmate fear. Some have pointed out that the most skilled military marksman, with the proper equipment, can kill at a distance of just over 2 miles, while the security zone around the Capitol is only 2 miles.
And, some have pointed out that there is no requirement that the oath be taken in public — that the oath taken place in many different locations, some of them “private”.
The oaths administered to date have been taken place in the following locations:
- U.S. Capitol (55 occasions)
- East Portico — 34
- Hall of the House of Representatives — 6
- Senate Chamber — 3
- West Front — 8
- East Front of Original Senate Wing — 1
- President's Room — 1
- Rotunda — 1
- Vice President's Room — 1
- White House — 6
- Old Brick Capitol (1st & A Sts., N.E.; site of present Supreme Court Building) — 1
- Washington, D.C. (not in Capitol or White House) — 2
- Outside Washington, D.C. — 7
Is it a risk, broad daylight, on the Capitol steps, two weeks to nearly the minute after an attempted insurrection? Yes. But it’s also necessary. How powerful is that: once again, we have a President and Vice President who are willing to take necessary risks, beause they believe in our democracy.
What a sea change from the last four years.
Inauguration At the US Capitol