Executive Director at the Presidential Inauguration

I recently traveled to the Presidential Inauguration. My historic experience was filled with powerful indications of optimism for our future.

When I first arrived in Washington, there were four black women from London on my hotel shuttle talking about the Inauguration. As I inquired about their visit, I learned that one of them had been featured on the CNN International edition. She and 20 or so pre-school students were interviewed about the significance of Barack Obama’s win and what it meant to the US, the UK, and the world. I remembered watching the piece because I was quite impressed with the little ones and their knowledge and enthusiasm. I prodded my new English acquaintance to tell me the “real” story that these very young people had been well coached and she insisted that they had not… they were simply repeating what they were hearing in their homes about this new world leader. Certainly these English women embodied this passion for our new leader: they flew from the UK (without inaugural tickets). Their sheer enthusiasm to participate in this historic world event reinforced what I already knew, that this would be a momentous occasion of a lifetime.

The city was bustling with its nearly two million guests. It was brutally cold, the queues were horrific, metro stations closed on a moment’s notice, masses were re-directed and sometimes masses were left to their own devices, and the city’s on "loan police" from destinations such as Austin Texas did not “have a clue” as one told me. Despite all this, I saw the best of people. It was as if everyone who had made the journey took their own private oath to be the best that they could be. It was the best of human kind.

There was no reprieve from the cold the morning of the inauguration. With temperatures in the teens, hundreds of thousands of people headed to the National Mall (some even figured out how to spend the night in the freezing temperatures). I was one of the lucky ones; I actually had a ticket and a seat. In the hours before the gates opened, I spoke to people, heard their Barack Obama stories, watched the passion in their eyes as they spoke, and listened to their hopes for our new president and for the country. Regardless of race, religion, age, or socioeconomic status, I heard resounding hopefulness and optimism for our collective future.

What I was most struck by was the older folks; the seniors that I witnessed. Many reminded me of my father and uncles and aunts now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s who endured the indignities of segregation. These older folks were not allowed to vote until they were well into their 30s and 40s. They never thought that they would see such a day in their lifetimes nor that of their children. I watched seniors whose bodies under any other circumstances would have failed them on such an unbearably cold January day waiting in lines for hours and not having a place to sit. You could see that their will and determination to be part of this moment, their spirits won that day over their physical state. It was powerful to see.

During the inauguration, while I could actually see the proceedings without the aid of the jumbotrons, I guess in my own way, I still could not really believe what I was witnessing. I watched a woman in her 40s wipe the tears from her cheeks with her mittens. I watched young kids standing in their chairs on their toes trying to soak it all in. I looked behind me to see the nearly two miles of people stretched from the capital to the Lincoln Memorial – the entire distance of the National Mall. It too was a powerful and moving sight.

There were some lighter moments, like when this faint and increasingly louder chant of the “Na Na Goodbye” song moved from section to section similar to the way the wave moves through a football stadium – saying goodbye to the former President – Mr. Bush. And then there were more stoic moments when our new president spoke words with great imagery such as, "This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall; and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

The next day, I went back to the capital as crews were returning it to its regular state, removing the inaugural ceremonial displays. I walked the entire stretch of the mall and was hit by the thought of the sheer number of people that had filled the space the day prior. The magnitude of the nearly two million in person and the several billion across the globe that witnessed this historic day hit me. It was almost as impactful as the actual inauguration.

- Spencer Hooper