Matthew Miles
Interviewee: Matthew Miles
Interviewer: Doug Exton
Description: Although the US constitution dedicates relatively little space to the executive branch, it is specific about the Oath a president must take. Over the last two centuries, the inaugural ceremony accompanying the formal oath of office has varied quite a lot. From people who were inebriated and rambled through the speech, to people who spoke so long they became ill; I will discuss some interesting and politically important inaugurations. In addition, I will discuss who typically gets an invitation to inaugurations and how this impacts Idahoans. Bio: Matthew Miles is a professor of Political Science at BYU-Idaho where he teaches undergraduate courses on the Executive Branch and a longtime member of the Presidents and Executive Politics section of the American Political Science Association. He has authored a book and more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles. His research on the Executive Branch has been published in Public Administration Review , Policy Studies Journal , The International Journal of Press/Politics, and Presidential Studies Quarterly .
Date: 2021-01-12
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Doug Exton: Thank you so much for joining us for tonight's Connected Conversation. A program conducted by the Idaho Humanities Council. If you're not familiar with our organization, I encourage you to check out our website, Idaho humanities.org. I'd like to remind you all that you may submit any questions using the Q&A feature located at the bottom of the screen. With me tonight is Doctor Matthew Miles from BYU Idaho.
It's nice to have you with us tonight. And I turn it over to you.
Matthew Miles: Thank you very much, Doug, and thanks to everybody for attending. I'm going to share my screen with you real quick just because it'll help, the presenters.
So as I thought about what to share, related to presidential inaugurations, I thought, you know, in many ways, the upcoming inauguration is going to be historic. And, oftentimes what we hear in the media, we talk about things that are unprecedented, things that have never happened before. And so I want to just kind of do a brief history of presidential inaugurations.
I'll touch on, closer to the end, some kind of unique Idaho, things related to presidential inaugurations. But mostly the intent is to, give some kind of context to, the current inauguration that Joe Biden's preparing for and and how that kind of fits with the broader American history, the history of the United States.
So the oath of office is in the US Constitution. Article two says exactly. What the incoming president should say before they become president, the United States, and it has the oath that they should take. As with most things that United States history, when there's something in the Constitution, it's sort of left to the individuals who hold the offices to interpret what that means.
So early on in, presidential inauguration, we have a lot of firsts. So, for example, George Washington took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City. There's a statue there today. And George Washington, after he took the oath of office, he actually kissed the Bible. And there were fireworks to celebrate it. But because there was a pressing business, there was no inaugural ball held after George Washington's, inauguration, after he took the oath of office and his wife didn't even attend.
So it's an early country and, the traditions and the norms that have been established. But this, tradition of kissing, the Bible after reciting the oath becomes kind of a long standing tradition that lasts for quite a long time. The idea of having a celebration and after the, oath of office, the kind of like it builds as, as time goes on.
John Adams, he's the first president to receive the oath of office from the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Again, that's not in the Constitution, but that's a norm that becomes established after John Adams. John Adams. So people ask questions about, like, presidential greatness. I always put George Washington on the list of the greatest presidents of the United States because, in my view, his willingness to step down is instrumental in creating the kind of democracy that we have today.
When I talk about democracy, I use it kind of as a broad term. So people will sometimes say, well, the United States isn't a democracy where a representative from a republic of some kind, but democracy in its broadest sense, is any form of government that strives to derive their power from the people. And so if you hear me use the term democracy, try not to get too upset.
I think of all forms of government that that derive their power from the people, or try to allow the subjects of voice to be and, included in government. I call all of us democracy is kind of a broad term. Anyhow, political scientists note how rare it is for, a new democracy to have a leader that steps down and leaves power.
It's very common for, new societies. They come in with these democratic ideals or these promises, and then the the new leaders don't step down. So the fact that John Adams even becomes president of the United States, is, is noteworthy in terms of human history. But, more noteworthy than that, is the, coming into power of Thomas Jefferson.
So, the 1800 election was a very contentious election. Although the founders were worried about what would happen if there were political parties or factions in Washington by the 1800 election, there had clearly emerged factions, in Congress, and there were two sides competing with each other and, and the language that they use probably wouldn't be offensive to us today, but it was offensive to people then.
And it was it was bitter, to the point that, you can this is not part of the inauguration, but the election of 1800 is famous for, the House of Representatives, kind of taking a long time to decide who would be president, because at that time, the president and vice president, the first place was president's second place was vice president.
And Jefferson ran on, a ticket with, Aaron Burr. And that's that's a long story. But because this was the first transfer of power from one political party to another political party, that was contentious, America was divided. Again, this is a very important time in the history of the United States, because political scientists will tell you that you don't have a true democracy until you have the transfer of power from one party to an opposing party, and then to some other opposing party after that.
So by a political science definition, we don't really have a democracy in the United States until after, Andrew Jackson was elected president. So Jefferson represents this first transfer of power from from the, Washington, Adams kind of political party to the Jefferson Union political party. And it was contentious. So it's there's some notable firsts. It's the first inauguration that happens in Washington, DC.
It's the first, inauguration where, Jefferson, walks, to and from the swearing in ceremony, the marine band plays, and that becomes a precedent that continues to the present. Thomas Jefferson, although he was really powerful in writing, did not enjoy public speaking very much. And so, he began this custom where he would write down, he would he would write to Congress, and I think that given the context of this first transfer of power from one party to another, I think that some of the text of his inaugural address becomes important to think about.
Again, it's short, and, he submitted it to a newspaper for publication the day of the inauguration. But if you if you read the entire address, which I didn't want to put here, to make everyone have to read the whole address, I just highlight some things that I think are important. But he talks about how there was a contentious election and now it's over.
And, the victories have been decided. And he says, and so now we're all going to be expected to arrange ourselves under the will of law and unite and common efforts for the common good. And, it talks about that. Sometimes the will of the majority will prevail, but the rights of the minority must be respected. And then this is, later on.
Right? He says, let us as fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. And I think this is probably the most important part. Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We've been called by different names, brethren, of the same principle. We're all Republicans, we're all Federalists. And so Jefferson, in his short inaugural address, attempts to unite the country and to reassure the opposing side that even though they've lost, they're still going to be represented and he's still going to be their president of the United States.
And even though there are factions that compete politically and try to win elections, but that's not the way that government will happen. After elections that we contest, elections we fight. It might be bitter, but then after the election, we come together. So I think that the, the first inaugural from Thomas Jefferson is important because it does set the precedent that's followed almost all of the time in the United States that the inaugural but when the president takes the oath of office is a time for Americans to come together and to set aside their differences and to try to work together, to look for commonality, to try to seek for things that, that unite
the country, rather the things that divide the country. And if you look at public opinion, you see that, by and large, that's what happens. The, the, the presidential approval rating on the day of inauguration is always higher than the percentage of the votes that the president receives in the preceding election. So in that interim, in that time between the election and the inauguration, usually what happens is Americans come together and they sort of set aside their differences and they say, let's give the new president a chance.
And oftentimes the president in their inaugural speech will say, let's work together as a country and let's set aside our differences. James Monroe, I only mention him because he's the first one to deliver the inaugural address outdoors, which most often happens now. And, he he takes his oath of office, in the spot where the Supreme Court now stands.
But it's kind of moving closer to the Capitol. But it's outside. That's the only reason I mention James Monroe. So Andrew Jackson, now we're to 1829. Andrew Jackson represents that second transfer of power so that the Jeffersonian Democrats are in power for a long period of time. The 1824 election is very contentious. Andrew Jackson won the plurality.
He won the most popular votes. He also won the most electoral college votes in 1824. But the Constitution says that you have to win the majority in the Electoral College. So because, Andrew Jackson did not win the majority in 1824, that election is decided by the House of Representatives and House of Representatives, chooses John Quincy Adams.
So you can imagine, how angry Andrew Jackson was in that intervening four years as he feels like an election was stolen from him. He feels like he should be the president of the United States. And the House of Representatives gave it to somebody else. So, again, the 1828 presidential election is very contentious. And in fact, Jackson blames, John Quincy Adams for the death of his wife.
He feels like the the rhetoric, and the things that were done and said in that campaign caused his wife so much turmoil that that led to her death. So there's a lot of bitterness between the outgoing John Quincy Adams and the incoming Andrew Jackson. It's it's kind of common, in democracies, when power is transferring from, from one to, in one party to another, a new regime is coming in that there's going to be that kind of tension.
And so John Quincy Adams becomes the first outgoing president to not attend the inauguration of the incoming Andrew Jackson. Also, Andrew Jackson is the first president to take the oath of office on the east front portico of the US Capitol. And so that tradition begins where the inauguration occurs at the Capitol, the US Capitol, this at the at the east side initially.
And then there's traditionally been a walk that goes from the Capitol to the White House.
So Abraham Lincoln is another contentious, inaugural, inauguration. So Abraham Lincoln now to 1861, he is the first president elected from the new political party. So, before Lincoln, you had the Democrats and the Whigs were the primary parties. Were the two major parties contesting elections. And you have, history of Democrat presidents, and you have a history of Whig presidents.
And then this new political party emerges, the Republicans, and they're anti-slavery. There were several states in the South that boycotted the 1860 presidential election. So Abraham Lincoln comes in, in, in great turmoil, like the country is ready for war. And he's, representative of a new party that's anti-slavery. And so from the very beginning of Lincoln's presidency, and you you'll note that this these inaugurations are happening in March.
So, Lincoln, is surrounded by heavy armed cavalry and infantry. There's a lot of, military protection guarding Abraham Lincoln during his inaugural his first inauguration, just over a month after Lincoln becomes president of the United States. There's the attack on Fort Sumter. And, Congress is not in session. And at this time, it was still not settled that the president had power as commander in chief if Congress had not declared war.
And then you have the Baltimore riot that occurs a week after that, or some call it the Pratt Street massacre. But basically, a riot in Washington rule Baltimore, but near Washington, D.C., and, the South is ready to revolt. The South is ready to rebel. And so very quickly after Abraham Lincoln's inaugurated, you have insurrection, you have the Civil War.
And then that continues for his entire presidency. And when Lincoln, is reelected for his second inaugural, we still have the Civil War going on. It hasn't ended yet. Lincoln is assassinated, just over a month after his second inaugural address. And the Civil War ends. After that. If you ask people, even if you ask scholars, who's the greatest president in U.S. history, Lincoln's always, in the top five.
And most often, Lincoln is one of the top right listed as the number one U.S. president, the greatest president in American history. Part of that, I think, is because of what he says in his second inaugural address. So the only inauguration that occurs when the nation is at war with itself. I think that that Lincoln sees victory and cites, history suggests that that, he knew and everyone in the North kind of knew that the war was over and that it was going to come to an end.
And I think that many of Lincoln's supporters had hoped that he would, be maybe he would maybe gloat a little bit more or maybe, have more of a sense of, like, a speech with a theme more geared around, like, we won. You lost? Right. Time for you to kind of come crawling to us and begging us for mercy or something like that.
But again, only 700 words in length, and the entire second inaugural speech is engraved on the wall at the Lincoln Memorial. And, just some powerful words. Malice toward none. Charity for all. Let us strive to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and to do all which may achieve and share a just and lasting peace among ourselves.
He talks earlier in it about how both sides pray to the same God. And, there's unifying language about how it's time to come together as a nation. So even though the war's not over, even though Lincoln's just, won an election, even though it looks like the war is going, that the South is going to lose the war, Lincoln starts uses the inauguration as a moment to bring about healing.
So I think an interesting thing about Lincoln, and perhaps one of the reasons why people think he's such a great president is because he comes into office under duress. And as he becomes, I don't know how it would feel to be president of the United States and have half of your country decide they don't want to be a part of it anymore, in part because you were elected president of the United States.
But he uses the inauguration as opportunities to unite rather than divide America to talk about what makes America great, to talk about what should bring us together, and to make sure the people on all sides feel like he's their president. And, he's going to represent the interests of all. So again, it continues this theme that started with Jefferson, this idea that, inaugurations are an opportunity to unite the country and to bring people together.
So, and there are a lot of inaugural things that I'm leaving out. I'll kind of hit some of them quickly. But, I do think it's interesting to note that, Donald Trump is not the first sitting president to announce that he will not attend the inauguration of his successor. John Quincy Adams did it. Andrew Johnson did it.
For those who don't know, Andrew Johnson was the vice president to Lincoln. And he was a different political party. Lincoln was a Republican, and Johnson was a Democrat. At least in spirit. Right. And so there was a lot of contention between, Johnson and the Republicans in Congress. So it was a kind of a contentious time.
Andrew Johnson's presidency. He was the first president to be impeached, although not convicted in the Senate. And, he had he did not have kind feelings towards, Ulysses S Grant, who beat him in that election. So he didn't state that. The reason he didn't attend the inauguration was his anger towards, the Republican Party. He said he had a lot of stuff to do, and he's just too busy to go.
But, if you go down the list of presidents of the United States, Andrew Johnson was sort of a sore loser and, very emotional. Just kind of like, we'll just say emotionally unstable. It was easy to make him mad, and he helped us for a long time. So these are the three that didn't attend the inauguration of their successor.
So some kind of noteworthy things. James Madison is the first to decide that there should be, an inaugural ball. The evening after the swearing in, but in 1913, when Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated president, he says a ball is not an appropriate way to, recognize this solemn occasion. So he cancels the ball, and you have some of this, you have traditions begin, and then other presidents kind of cancel those traditions.
So there's the Constitution doesn't say what has to happen. It really is the personal preferences of the presidents. Sometimes they choose to follow tradition, sometimes they choose to expand on tradition. Sometimes they choose to abandon tradition. There is, tradition now of having a luncheon at the White House. So president Mrs. Cleveland invited the Harrisons to have lunch with them at the White House before the inaugural parade in 1889.
I remember when President Obama was in office, people would, share these kind of fake photos of of Obama taking the oath of office on, a Koran or something like that. Or they'd say Obama is the first president to not swear his oath of office on a Bible, but just so you know, it was Theodore Roosevelt was the first to not here's a Bible.
Many other presidents after that have used Bibles, but Theodore Roosevelt was the first to not use a Bible. Helen Herron Taft was the first first lady to accompany her husband on that return ride from the Capitol to the White House. Helen Heron Taft was just a great lady. I, I don't have time to talk more about that, but she was just wonderful.
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt begin a tradition where they go to a morning church service. Prior to the inauguration, I was in 1933. And then it's clear, 1937, before the 20th amendment, is ratified, that changes the inauguration from March until January 20th. So, all presidential inaugurations from 1937 on occur on January 20th, US given the events of the last couple of weeks, I think, how grateful I am that the inauguration is on January 20th and not in March.
At least now it seems like that's that's helpful to have the inauguration sooner rather than later. At the height of World War two, the the inauguration was very, very simple. There was no formal celebration. There was no, parade because of rationing, for gas and a lumber shortage. So when there are crises, there is a tradition of having, a less, elaborate, inauguration in 1953, Eisenhower broke precedent by, reciting his own prayer.
So Eisenhower was the first to not kiss the Bible after taking that oath of office. Of course, I guess, Teddy Roosevelt couldn't have kissed the Bible because he didn't have a Bible. But Eisenhower was the first to offer a prayer. After taking me off instead of kissing the Bible. Also, I only point this one out, that Eisenhower was sworn in privately because that does happen sometimes, too.
So there's this back and forth tradition in inaugurations where sometimes the, the inauguration will not be held on a Sunday because they want to worship on Sunday, not do the inauguration. Sometimes I say it's a Sunday, so let's do it in private. We'll have the party on the Monday or something like that. When President Obama took his oath of office in 2009, there was some, dispute about whether he did the oath the right way.
So Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office in the White House, shortly after the inauguration, 1963, when Johnson is inaugurated. Wait a minute. That's when Kennedy was assassinated. This would be the 1965 inauguration. We had really tight security. This the first time that the president rides in a bulletproof limousine, because there's concern that perhaps,
Johnson, his life could be in danger. Ronald Reagan in 1981 begins the tradition of having the inauguration be on the other side of the Capitol building, looking out over the National Mall, which allows a greater crowd to be there to witness the, taking of the oath of office. And in 2009, Obama's first inauguration as the largest attendance of any presidential inauguration in U.S. history.
And I know there are some debate about that after 2017. And there was this fight between Trump and the Park Service about the size of the crowd. But officially, Obama's was the largest inauguration in U.S. history. That was also the largest event that the Capitol held at the time. Up to that point. So, I did actually want to mention just quickly, I, I, I guess I must have deleted the slide on accident.
So William Henry Harrison, this would be in that period between Andrew Jackson and, Abraham Lincoln. William Henry Harrison was an older, man when he was elected. He was a former general, and he was concerned that people would think that he was, too old for office. So he actually gave a very long inaugural address. It was a cold day.
He got sick, and shortly after that, he died. And, for a time, historians said that he got. So it was because of his speech at his inauguration that he got sick and died. And so that's a common story that is frequently told with presidential inaugurations that, well, sometimes they give too long of a speech and they die, which was the case with, William Henry Harrison.
But he actually happens to fit within this period of time where you have three presidents that died while they were in office. So William Henry Harrison did this is because he got, he was called from his he got a call when he was giving his inaugural address, but another president, they say he got food poisoning. And there's this little string of three presidents that die in office, and then their vice presidents becomes the next president.
And some research suggests that at this time, the White House was located downstream of, like, a sewage pit or something like that, and that the water coming into the White House was actually bad water. And so some, historians argue that William Henry Harrison actually died not from his inauguration in that long speech, but because the bad water that was coming into the White House.
So I did find some interesting, Idaho connections to the inauguration. Again, inaugurations in there, are typically a celebration of the incumbent of the new president coming into power. So when Republicans when Republicans control Idaho and then a Republican is inaugurated, that tends to give Idahoans more opportunities to participate in the inauguration. So in 2017, I think I wanted to point this out because I think this is cool.
There was a group of four students from the Idaho School for the deaf and the blind, and two of their educators. They received an all expense paid trip to attend President Trump's inauguration. There was an online contest that they won. So there's a really cool story about that. And I'm not familiar with this, performing group, but apparently the red hot mom was from Hayden, Idaho.
Or some say they're from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. They were so popular, they, performed in the parade for, George W Bush's, first and second inauguration. And if this video works, I can show you a little video of, what that looked like. So let's see if.
I made this little video from C-Span today.
Let me just make sure on my share that I'm going to share it. So you can all see this video.
Speaker 3: ...red hot mommas. These women have been awarded the Americanism Award by the VFW. We are proud to be making their second consecutive appearance, president told parade.
Matthew Miles: So I thought it would be me. Maybe some of you, know, you can tell us more about the red hot mamas and their, experience at the inauguration? If not, that's okay. That's like an Idaho connection to the inauguration that I thought it'd be fun to talk about.
So I think that without a doubt, the, the inauguration for Joe Biden and Joseph Biden is going to be historic. It's the first time we will have a woman sworn in as vice president. It's the first time we'll have a minority sworn in as vice president. It will be historic because Covid 19 restrictions make it so that they're not going to have the kind of crowds that you would normally have at inauguration.
So just like FDR scaled his back a little bit during World War two, they're going to see something scaled back because of Covid 19. So those three reasons alone make it that this will be a historic inauguration. But then we add to that the events at the US Capitol, almost a week ago, this is a photo of the US Capitol with the flag at half staff while they're preparing for an inauguration.
So I think for many Americans, just the image of, just a week ago, what you can envision in your mind was happening in this very area to what will happen on January 20th in this area. Like, I don't know that there's a way to document the way that Americans will experience the contrasting events there. I'm sure that people will have very different experiences, but but that adds to it.
There's going to be unprecedented security, right? There is going to be and by the way, the FBI released a warning that there are armed protests planned for all 50 state capitals between January 16th and January 20th. They're going to have 10,000 members of the National Guard along with the police. They've got fencing, they've got, right.
They've got eight foot tall, barriers that they're erecting. So it's it's kind of like and I always try to keep things in perspective. I try to not be too alarmist about anything. But as you think about the history of inaugurations, this inaugurations got the potential to be historic for all of the good reasons, all of the things that make us proud to be Americans.
But it also has the potential to be historic for the reasons that, Abraham Lincoln's was historic or Lyndon Johnson's was historic. And I've never lived in a society on the brink of civil war. I don't think that Lincoln imagined that the riots that started in, Baltimore shortly after his inauguration. I don't think he anticipated that that was going to be the beginning of that conflict.
And I certainly hope that whatever happens with this inauguration isn't the beginning of that. And I think that's kind of where I'd like to conclude, is just expressing my hope that we have an opportunity to witness a historic inauguration for all of the good reasons and my hope that Americans will choose to celebrate the positive and put aside the bad, so that this inauguration is remembered for the positive things that are happening in America, and not as a beginning of terrible and kind of worst things that might happen.
So with that, let's have a discussion.
Doug Exton: Thank you for that wonderful presentation. The first question I wanted to open out with was, how is the native population? Kind of been, like in play with inaugurations, like, have chieftains always been invited, to these inaugurations or, you know, has there always kind of been, you know, like maybe a small ceremony or something to kind of homage or something?
Matthew Miles: Yeah, that's a great question. And it really the answer to that is it depends on who's the president of the United States. Andrew Jackson is famous for saying that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. It's a horrible thing to say, a horrible sentiment to express. But we can be certain that Native Americans were not a part of his inauguration.
And, and it really does depend on the president and the message that they want to send to Native American populations in the United States or indigenous peoples. I think that the probably the highlights would have been President Obama's. He was a very inclusive president, and he, put Native Americans in positions of power. I expect that, Joseph Biden will do the same thing.
He already is, putting Native Americans in positions of power in ways that other presidents haven't. And we're not for Covid. I would think we would see more celebrations. But but yeah, the the short answer to that is it just depends on the president. I wish it was more than it is.
Doug Exton: And then kind of bridging off of that. Since they've been mostly public, how is segregation played into that? In the past, were minorities allowed to even attend these in the past?
Matthew Miles: Yeah, that's a really good question. I didn't look, I don't know who was the first to have segregated, sorry, integrated audiences at the inauguration. But for sure, Washington, D.C. borders Virginia. So there was lots of segregation. So it was common to see African-Americans at events, but they weren't there as spectators. They were there as servants or slaves.
They were there as the help. If I had to guess, I would guess that, John F Kennedy would probably be the first president where, there would be some kind of integration at the inauguration. But it's also very possible that it didn't even happen as late as JFK.
Doug Exton: Thank you for that answer. And just as a reminder, you can submit your questions using the Q&A feature located at the bottom of your zoom screen. The next question we have is what would you say is your favorite inauguration and why?
Matthew Miles: Yeah. So, I'm fairly young, and, and studying history has all kinds of interesting events, but I'd have to say the inauguration of Barack Obama. For me, would be the very best, Barack Obama's inauguration represented everything that's best in America. I, I grew up not aware of the racial strife that was happening in America, and I was very ignorant to all of that.
And the inauguration of Barack Obama was the first time I was able to see for myself what it meant to African Americans to have one of their own as president. I was in Washington, D.C., about, about three months, after the inauguration, and there was still an, an energy there where people were excited and happy to have, Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.
And I think you could see that not just in the media, but in the crowds that were there. If you look at the literature at the time, political scientists started writing books about the end of racism in America or the post-racial America. So many people believed that Barack Obama represented the end of all of the racial struggle that had preceded him, and that now we we're finally moving on as a country.
And so for me, that's an unforgettable inauguration.
Doug Exton: Yeah. And I'd also like to point out that I am, as well, pretty young. So that is also the first inauguration that I truly remember. So by default, I have to agree that it's definitely my favorite as well. So who normally attends these inaugurations? Because I assume there's probably like a VIP section slash, you know, congrats, you got an invitation.
And then there's the public.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. So there's actually a committee that's in charge of planning inaugurations. And they start planning today anyways. They start planning the next inauguration as soon as the one inauguration is over. And that committee, by and large, decides who gets to attend and where they get to attend, like where they're going to be. So like, here's where we're going to have general public seating and here's we're going to have VIP and things like that.
So, so there is a group of people that are invited to attend the inauguration, like, and they're close to the president. You're going to always have dignitaries invited. Former presidents are going to be invited. Right. Vice presidents. So so those dignitaries will be invited. Sometimes you'll have donors that are invited to attend as personal guests of the president.
Then there's typically general audience like the general public can attend. And you would get your tickets through your member of Congress. That's the way that they kind of vet who attends that. And then the last little while, the rest of the the rest of the party that happens after the inauguration, that's where the donors and kind of the, the, political activists and such, that's sort of where they attend.
So they get to go with this ball or that ball, and they get to go to this thing and they'll, right, there's all these parties and stuff that lasts all night long. And so they're typically high dollar events. You donate a lot of money, and then you get invited to one of these events and then you can go to that.
But the inauguration itself tends to be more like a States like, like a, a more of, like a national celebration and not so much the activists and the party like elites and things like that.
Doug Exton: You know, thank you for that insight. Has there any has there been any kind of credible threat to an inauguration prior to this upcoming one?
Matthew Miles: So there's definitely a credible threat in the Abraham Lincoln in 1861. There were enough of a threat, with, Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of Kennedy that made him take extra precautions. To be honest, I think that there is always a credible threat against any president of the United States for any inauguration. And we spent billions of dollars on the Secret Service to keep them safe, to keep presidents safe.
I were it not for the Secret Service. I think that every president would be under some kind of physical danger at an inauguration. Now, in terms of the threat that's happening now, I don't think that this is directed towards Biden as much as it's directed towards a group of people that would like to see civil war in America.
So I don't interpret the current situation as a threat against Biden as much as it is a threat against America, the United States.
Doug Exton: Beyond, your remarks with Obama's inauguration and the inclusion with it, not what else do you look for within both an inaugural address and the inauguration? You know, in the ceremonies and all that? To create a positive inauguration?
Matthew Miles: Well, so an inauguration is always first and foremost a celebration of the president and their supporters. And then then the next most important thing of the inauguration is they're setting the tone for their presidency. And I think for me, the most memorable thing about President Trump's inauguration is that his speech that he gave, angered a whole bunch of Americans and made another group of Americans just so excited.
And, and I remember talking to some of my conservative Republican friends that they would say, why are you not thrilled about what Trump said in a speech? He said, this positive thing and this positive thing and this positive thing, but it was hard for me to set aside the negative things that he was saying. And so, in that sense, for me, an inaugural address is not about dividing America, but about bringing them together.
And Americans are not going to always agree on policy. But inauguration and its best is going to be, celebrating a victory for those that worked hard for the victory. But then at the same time, setting forth a unifying agenda and letting Americans know we're going to come together.
Doug Exton: Can you please comment on the reactions of foreign leaders from US inaugurations? If you know any?
Matthew Miles: Yeah. So foreign leaders, because the United States is so important on the global economic stage, foreign leaders recognize that inaugurations are an opportunity for them to join in the celebration with the president. And so, foreign leaders that that want to have good relations with the United States, they take inaugurations as opportunities to congratulate the president and to, wish the president well and things like that.
And under the best circumstances, they get invited to be a part of the inauguration. Many, many foreign leaders come to the United States and start trying to meet with the new administration. The people have been appointed, the transition team and things like that. So lots of foreign leaders use the inaugural ceremonies as opportunity is to create relationships that they'll use, in the next presidency.
Then there will be the the foreign leaders that are not fans of the United States. And then they have a predictable response. They're kind of negative, for the most part, the ones who don't like the United States sort of ignore the inauguration, but some of them might pick and choose opportunities to attack American.
Doug Exton: What is your opinion about the mismatch between a new Congress and the presidential transfer of power at the inauguration?
Matthew Miles: So a mismatch in terms of, like when they're not in the same party.
Doug Exton: I'll let the attendee clarify that question for us. But in the meantime, beyond the election with, John Quincy Adams, where the House of Representatives ended up deciding the end of that election, what other role does Congress play with inaugurations?
Matthew Miles: So, it depends on who in Congress does it. But typically a member of Congress will administer the oath of office to the vice president of the United States. After the passage of the 25th amendment, you have like the succession of power where it goes, president, vice president, speaker of the House. So it's very common that the speaker of the House is there and visible at the inauguration.
Behind the scenes, obviously, members of Congress are working with the new administration to, and using the inaugural ceremonies as ways to sort of build relationships and, and set policy for the next. So the reality is, the first hundred days a president is in office that's considered the honeymoon period. Most presidents, if they don't get something accomplished in that first hundred days, they don't get it accomplished, in the rest of their term.
So members of Congress are working closely with the president to figure out what that first hundred days agenda should look like.
Doug Exton: And we did get clarification on the previous question. The mismatch of when the new Congress is seated versus when the president assumes the power of the president.
Matthew Miles: Oh, so like is it like because Congress gets sworn in and then the president gets sworn in later?
Doug Exton: I believe so.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. I think that this like, right now, I think that that's perhaps more relevant than it has been before, because we have the sort of contention that we don't normally have. Although I suppose if you go back to, right when inaugurations were held in March, then having Congress come in earlier, that could have created some, some tensions there.
I suppose it all depends on, how that balance of power is shifting. If like right now, the House of Representatives is still Democrat, there's different people in there. And so, so, so some of them are behaving differently. You can see in the House of Representative right now, there's some freshman Republican representatives that are trying to make a name for themselves.
And they're sort of sort of like working in this right now to try and create political careers for themselves. But I think that's more of an exception to the rule than like how things normally happen.
Doug Exton: And then how would you rate on a scale of 1 to 10, with ten being the most important? The importance of tradition with inaugurations throughout U.S history.
Matthew Miles: I think that with all things in the United States tradition and what we call in political science, the informal norms, these become institutions that are important. It's impossible to legislate everything that should or should not happen in a country. And so all countries rely on precedent, tradition, norms, people behaving within those norms. And, sometimes you get a president elect that likes to violate those norms.
And over the last four years and the last week, we see what happens when you have a president that likes to violate those norms. It's damaging to the country. We all hope that the next president will go back and follow those norms again and behave the way that we expect our presidents to behave, but there's no guarantee that that will happen, and there's nothing to force them into doing that.
So the inauguration is set up to be like the celebration of all that is best in America. And when presidents adhere to the norms of inaugurations, when they when they say, let's make it about a celebration, let's make it about a unifying event, then that leads to greater respect for the institutions of democracy. At least average people like the masses having respect for the office of president.
And it leads to all of the good things you want in society that you can't legislate and force to happen.
Doug Exton: You mentioned Obama's inauguration was the most attended, outside of the private inaugurations. Who has the lowest attendance rate?
Matthew Miles: Yeah. Well, so yeah, so FDR would be bad because World War two is really strong. But like, you could really just go the history of the United States, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, you just didn't have a lot of people attending those inaugural addresses because there wasn't really anything to celebrate at that time.
Doug Exton: And do you think and obviously with an inauguration being online, you know, you can watch it live as it's happening outside of Covid. Do you think that will cause a trend of less in-person attendance? Especially, as you know, streaming has become such a big, you know, part of the average American life.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. So, President Clinton was the first to broadcast, the inauguration over the internet. And of course, it's on every television channel. It's so easy to watch. There's something if the new administration really wants people to be at the inauguration, because there's just something about attending an inauguration in person that creates this patriotism. It creates this this feeling of admiration and, for the office of the president.
And so I think that as long as presidents want people to come, you're going to have people coming to inaugurations. And I can't imagine why presidents would not want big crowds at their inaugurations.
Doug Exton: Yeah. And I think you also bring up a good point, you know, with, you know, that, is there certain things that just can't be conveyed over a screen right.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. Like you, you could be at an inauguration. Well, we can look at the photos from Trump's inauguration in 2017. There was plenty of space, right? You could have been at Trump's inauguration, and you could have been standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and you would have seen him. It would be a terrible view. He'd be so far away, you probably wouldn't be able to see him, and you'd have a much better view if you just stayed on watching on television.
But being there when somebody takes the oath of office, even if it's somebody you didn't like, there's just going to be something to that that can't be replicated on TV. I know that they try because it gives them viewers, but you really can't replicate being someplace in person.
Doug Exton: And then do you know kind of what happens when there's it's it starts raining during the inauguration. Is there like a contingency plan with that like huddle inside, everyone go home, turn the cameras on.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. So Ronald Reagan's second inaugural, it was so cold that they didn't. There's inside. So they will it's interesting. Reagan's first inaugural was the warmest ever. And the second inaugural was the coldest ever recorded. So they will make plans like that to say let's have this inside instead of outside. But at the same time, presidents like to project power.
And so if it starts pouring rain, you're more likely to see a president stand there in the rain and tough it out and show everybody that they can take the bad weather than you are to see them change it and do it indoors, although they have done that in the past, moved it inside.
Doug Exton: You know, and I think, you know, that kind of mentality of, you know, I will tough this out for the American people does really speak volumes, especially for someone like the president.
Matthew Miles: Yeah. And for whatever reason, the older they are, the more they want to stand out there and show how strong they are. They just have to prove I'm not too old for this.
Doug Exton: Yeah. And I think that comes with it comes from the, you know, mentality of, oh, the president's always, you know, an older person, you know, so it's kind of the I still got it in me.
Matthew Miles: Yeah, yeah. Take their coats off. Right. So they don't feel the cold.
Doug Exton: Exactly. Then do you have any just like, fun little facts or stories from previous presidential inauguration that you'd like to share?
Matthew Miles: Oh, I think I've told most of them. I guess I will just add this. This is not a bad time to address, when President Trump was inaugurated, there was a big push telling people not to participate so people would be invited to participate in the inaugural ceremonies. And then if they accepted that their kind of get, like, shamed on social media.
And so there are these there are these like sort of battles that happen right where people think you should or you shouldn't participate. And Trump says noteworthy for that reason where, I think the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed, the people were angry at them for doing that. Other people chose to perform and people were angry at them.
And I think that as citizens, like it's we should we too should remember the purpose of the presidential inauguration and whether we like the person or whether we don't like the person that's being inaugurated. America works best when America remembers that the election is over, and now it's time to come together as a country and remember that we're Americans first and maybe Partizans second.
And so we should celebrate the inauguration, whether we like the person or don't like the person, if we have an opportunity to go and participate, we should, because that's the way we tell our fellow Americans that, we understand the purpose of an inauguration.
Doug Exton: And do you think Americans have kind of forgotten, you know, that purpose of the inauguration is to unite together, you know, as you know, Americans, you know, and move forward, you know, with the next presidency.
Matthew Miles: I don't think that they've forgotten. I think that we're, at a bit of a precipice at the moment. And I think that the inauguration of 1861, the, the events led to the Civil War, I think we just need to take that as a warning. And, and the more that we as Americans remember, I guess that would imply we forgot.
But the more that we as Americans demonstrate that we, want to be Americans first. And we show that all the time, but especially on Inauguration Day, the I think it serves as a protection against the kinds of things that happened in 1861 that led to the Civil War. Like there's nothing that will ever happen that will make me feel like insurrectionists are justified.
But as an American, I have to recognize that they, too, are U.S. citizens. And I have to welcome everybody in in whatever way I can. That doesn't mean that we don't hold people accountable for their choices, but we let them know that that the Biden administration is not just for Biden supporters, but that everyone's a part of it.
And please come join with us and partake and be a part of it, and do what you can to build American.
Doug Exton: Yeah, I really like the way that you framed that. You know, it is for Americans, not just whoever supports the winner with the election.
Matthew Miles: Like it can be painful, right? Like it can be very painful to watch someone you voted against. Someone that you're afraid is going to support policies that you really don't like. It can be painful to watch them celebrate their victory, but the inauguration is more than a celebration. It's about coming together and setting aside our differences.
Doug Exton: And unfortunately, we are out of time for further questions. So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you, Doctor Myles, for being here with me tonight.
Matthew Miles: Yeah, thank you very much. This was a lot of fun.
Doug Exton: Have a good night, everyone.