WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, the 57th presidential inauguration, may not attract the same crowds as the first in 2009, but it will engage the nation with a powerful theme, according to organizers.
Faith in America’s Future, a theme selected by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), will surface repeatedly in key speeches throughout the inauguration ceremony, according to Matt House, communications director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCICC).
The inauguration theme was inspired by this year’s 150th anniversary of the capping of the Capitol dome with the Statue of Freedom, which marked the completion of the iconic building.
The Capitol project began in the 1850s but was stopped midway due to the Civil War, the dome standing only half built when Abraham Lincoln took office. Congress baulked at the cost of completion during such troubled times; however, Lincoln insisted that construction continue.
“If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on,” said the former president in an interview with Union Chaplain John Eaton.
Schumer, chairman of the JCCIC, was inspired by the ideas of faith and unity amid similarly challenging times today, he told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.
“If we look back at what we accomplished 150 years ago, we can find faith in America’s future that we can overcome these obstacles again,” he said.
Inauguration Ceremony
Constitutionally, the president must be sworn in before noon on Jan. 20, which falls on a Sunday this year. The official public event will occur instead, as it has in only seven other presidential inaugurations, on the following Monday.
Obama will take the oath, attended by immediate family, before Chief Justice John Roberts at the White House Sunday morning. The Robinson Bible, belonging to the first lady’s family, will be used for the swearing in ceremony.
