Minutes that were worth the trip
By Suzanne Hanney, IWPA President
Suzanne Hanney stands at the Washington Monument on the National Mall, where she watched people react emotionally as loudspeakers broadcast Barack Obama taking the presidential oath of office. There were more than 1.5 million people on the National Mall and the Washington Monument is roughly 12 blocks from the inauguration platform	Barack Obama’s face was barely visible in the noontime sun, on the jumbo screen far away over the tops of port a-potties and people’s heads, but the historic moment of his presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. was worth the overnight bus trip from Chicago and hours of walking. Standing in front of the Washington Monument, I could hear the largely black audience around me react as the first African-American president took the Oath of Offi ce. Suddenly I knew they felt as much a part of the political system as I always have. Later, the Boston Globe published GPS photos of the National Mall that showed some clusters of people but equally large open spaces, which proved that there were insufficient jumbo screens for the 1.5 million people.

We had walked 2 ½ hours – up one side of the Mall and down the other – before we found a place where police let us in. Obama was about 12 blocks away, on the west front of the U.S. Capitol.

It was disconcerting to find the nation’s capital overwhelmed by the crowd. As we followed signs to exit the Mall, military police vaguely directed us elsewhere. I wandered north, up 18th Street and Connecticut Avenue, for another hour before I could fi nd a map and the Metro subway system. Police just stared at the throngs coming up the street, climbing over shrubbery and barricades in their path.

Still, it was not a scary experience. The diverse throng of young and old, black and white, maintained a friendly attitude. And it was a chance to understand the layout of federal government buildings.

I went to the inauguration as one of 560 people on 10 buses chartered by Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago). During the campaign, Davis had led a 19-hour bus trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to canvass caucus voters, and I went along to cover their experience. The inauguration was a follow-up for people who provided input to the congressman’s policy making groups. This time, it was a blend of assignment and vacation for me.

The congressman and I go back to 1998 and the NFPW convention in
Washington. His special inauguration moment came through a reception he hosted in the Rayburn House Offi ce Building so that people could avoid the cold and the crowds of the swearing in ceremony. As 200 people spilled into the hall, a white, conservative Republican congressman from Alabama – Spencer Baucus, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee -- invited them into his office. Congressional Roll Call later noted the hospitality toward Davis, a black liberal progressive from the North.

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