Remembrances Of Inaugurations Past

His 12th Inauguration Reminds Bob Schieffer Of His First, And Of A Cup Of Coffee 40 Years Ago

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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It was forty years ago this week that I came to Washington from Fort Worth.

I had been here only twice before. The previous visit had been for Lyndon Johnson's inaugural. I was starting a new job in 1969 and in the tradition of American males, I left my six-months-pregnant wife behind to pack our belongings, sell our house, find a mover, and figure out how to get our dog and the car to Washington. She got it done.

At our first dinner party, we soon realized we were a long way from home. As the coffee was served, my wife kicked me under the table. The hostsess was passing a bowl of what looked to be brown cigarettes.

We were stunned. Were those joints of marijuana? Is this how it was? What were we supposed to do?

Well, not to worry, it was just a bowl of cinnamon sticks to flavor the coffee.

Proust believed the past was locked beyond the intellect in material objects - a tree, a rock, an animal - and that the spell that held memories captive could be broken only if by chance we came upon that object. A fancy way of saying, an unremarkable object or experience can unlock a memory long forgotten.

Barack Obama's swearing-in will mark my twelfth inaugural. Like all inaugurals it will be keyed to the future, about hope and the expectation of things to come.

But in the autumn of my life I have come to appreciate as well, the pleasure and the lessons such great events evoke as they unlock memories of things that were, and how they came to be.

[hotwitch]

The first Inauguration I remember is Jimmy Carter''s He and Roselyn walked down Pennsylvania Ave., no motorcade, to highlight the energy "crisis" and to prove he was a man of the people. However, the National Guard stood ready with flame throwers in case there were flurries, so much for energy conservation.... Inaugurations don''t mean squat.

In 1960 I was a part-timer in the News delivery business, working for the Long Island Daily Press in Queens, NY. As a 14 year old I had a carrier route with 85 household customers. The paper had sponsored a contest: Carriers enlisting 15 new subscribers to the paper, would win a trip to the Inauguration of the new President. With some effort,I managed to add subscribers and JFK won the election. On the day before the event, I left the delivery work to my mom and two younger brothers.
There were two or three bus loads of us delivery boys. We finally walked into the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore about 2 in the morning as a raging snow storm had slowed our journey south from New York to a crawl. By 6am we were at breakfast and off to the Capital. We had bleacher seats on the shady side of Pennsylvania Ave. It was so cold I wanted to move around so I began my private tour. I had the National Archives and the Declaration of Independence to myself and a few security guards. The National Art Gallery was entirely empty except for me, or so it seemed. At the Washington Monument again alone, I glanced down from the top and saw black limo''s pulling into the White House south side. No,I never did get to see JFK in the parade. But I came home with other memories to last a lifetime. Later of course I saw videos of the inauguration and listened to JFK''s speech. It may have influenced me in some ways. Now I work for the government... part-time.