At 11:30 A.M. on January 20th, 2017, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president in Washington D.C. He then attended a parade and three inaugural balls. Both the Liberty and Freedom balls took place at the Washington Convention Center. The third ball was held at the National Building Museum, called the “Salute To Our Armed Services” Ball.
Here are some of our fellow citizens' thoughts on how they think the inauguration went on January 20th.
Emily Lewis said, “I think the inauguration is a great tradition that is being upheld. Every four years, the same ceremony is performed no matter who the president is. It`s a great way to establish a peaceful transfer of power. My favorite part is the newly elected president's inauguration speech.”
Mr. Tucker commented, “I think it demonstrates how deeply divided the nation is at this time.”
Senior Celesse Smedley commented, “All the candidates for this time around, I didn't personally like and would have rather moved into a different country.”
Slightly more positive were Ms. McCroskey’s thoughts on the inauguration: “Though there are some real divisions in the country right now, I thought the presence of many of Trump's opponents at the inauguration was a step in the right direction. Whether we like him or not, it's important to support our new leader, so I appreciated the support these few showed Trump that day.”
Mrs. Schlafer’s thoughts were similar to Ms. McCroskey’s: “Every American should be excited about Inauguration Day. It is part of the democratic process that has made the United States unique. When the U.S. chose to be a democracy, we were an ‘experiment’ because no other country had tried it for an entire country. The world expected us to fail. Could a country really switch from one leader to the other without a civil war?”
She continued by saying, “No matter what candidate a person voted for in the November election, they should be proud of our country`s ability to accept the idea of ‘majority rule with minority rights. Inauguration Day is so special because it is a rare occasion when past leaders and present leaders from both political parties come to celebrate our democracy. It is a day of hope that our country will be united for the good of all.”