Newspaper Clippings
MORE OF THE SAME OR BETTER THAN BEFORE?
Daniel Concannon
President Samuel Norton Seaborn began taking the oath of office at precisely 11:58:38 a.m. last Thursday, about a minute and a half before the constitutionally approved deadline. This close call was forgiven as President Seaborn placed his hand over a bible, held by his wife Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn, and became the country's 45th president.
It was a bitterly cold day, and many California supporters complained about the cold and the rare inches of DC snow packed beneath their feet. At many prior inaugurals it rained, but wasn't nearly as cold.
While the leader of the free world is clearly the most powerful person at his own swearing-in, there were others in attendance who were pretty powerful in their own right. President Seaborn's inauguration was attended by well over 10,000 people, including President Bartlett and President Santos with their respective families and other notable democrats from their two administrations. President Seaborn is fondly remembered here within the beltway for the time he spent as President Josiah Bartlett's Deputy Communications Director and Senior Advisor and he is well known throughout the country as one of California's most innovative and effective governors.
Immediately before President Seaborn was sworn into office, the oath was administered to Vice President Joshua Lyman by former President Bartlett. Vice President Lyman is no stranger to national politics or Washington DC. Many remember him as President Bartlett's Deputy Chief of Staff and many more know him as President Santos's presidential campaign manager and most influential Chief of Staff, a position he left only when he was added to the democratic ticket. Standing next to Vice President Lyman, braving the cold, was his wife Juliana Lyman, an influential politico in her own right.
The Seaborn-Lyman ticket won in an overwhelming landslide against their Republican rivals. With strong ties to the widely popular Bartlett and Santos administrations, many Americans expect more of the same from President Seaborn and Vice President Lyman. There are, however, quite a few more Americans and citizens of the world who sense that this administration will accomplish much more than their predecessors. They could possibly propel the Democratic Party, themselves and the country into historical significance, the magnitude of which we have not seen in the past century.