The Parade of '53

In 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn into office and with him came the largest Inaugural parade in the history of the United States. What made this piece of history so unique was its recollection through the eyes of a fourteen year-old Colbert I. King in his piece “The Parade of ‘53”. At the time, Colbert King was a Boy Scout marching in the inaugural parade, this was an interesting viewpoint as many of us here have our own Inaugural experience from just a few weeks ago. What is amazing is the contrast in one of the most noticeable things that surrounds the president of modern times compared to fifty sixty years ago, security.

The recollection of people rushing past the police blockades to run to the presidential car only to be “shooed” back behind ropes by the Secret Service was almost humorous to me, as I felt going beyond the blockades at today’s inaugurations would cause anywhere from 3-8 different law enforcement agencies to shoot. The he throws in the unexpected, this decorated general stood at attention during the parade, only to be lassoed by a cowboy. One can only imagine the reaction of Bush (remember this is not a shoe) or Obama to a lasso, and considering the act was unscripted the reaction that the Service would yet again have. As King recalls the longest presidential parade in the United States, at over four and a half hours, he recounts the incredible amount of people that turned out to celebrate the war hero’s ascension to the presidential office. There were “750,000 spectators, 25,000 marchers, 75 bands, 59 floats, cowboys, members of the armed forces, a 280mm cannon that was longer than the White House reviewing stand, herds of horses and elephants, and blimps hovering overhead.” This part of the parade I cannot remember, it seems that in Obama’s inaugural ceremony the focus was all on the speech and little if any was on the parade.

Today the mayor of D.C. represents the city in the parade; in the parade of Eisenhower’s time three presidentially appointed commissioners walked to represent the District. Yet some things still remain the same, students held up signs then protesting the lack of representation that D.C. had during that time and still had today. Much like the hiccups in the Obama administration’s cabinet appointments, Eisenhower had a rocky start as eight of his nominations were blocked less than an hour after he took the oath of office. Yet what stood out with me most was that King described coming to the presidential grandstand, it was dark as the parade drove on into the night; yet there stood the president and King exclaimed “Ike waited for us”.