Its official!

Its official!

Stats Check – Past Inauguration Attendance Records

Everyone is saying that today will set a record for inauguration attendance. The lower estimates have been around 2 million people. This would break the previous record set by LBJ of 1.2 million. I thought it would be interesting to see who after today would hold the record for percentage of population at an inauguration. I don’t want anyone to be able to take anything away from this day!

Lets start at the beginning with George Washington. Ol’ Georgie took the oath on April 30th 1789. America had about 3 million citizens at the time. Only a mere 32,000 attended the first inauguration of an American president. That’s less than 1% of the population 0.01% to be exact. We can cut Washington some slack. Travel was not easy during yet and many did not even agree on what the president should be doing yet.

Let’s jump all the way up to George W. Whether he has been one of the worst American presidents will be debated for years to come. Clearly he has been the most controversial in the past 20 years. At his first inauguration roughly 300,000 people showed up out of 299,398,484 citizens; 1% of all Americans. Of course there were a number of people protesting this swearing in and I haven’t read if they were tallied or not.

Reagan and Clinton, two popular Presidents drew 500,000 and 800,000 respectively for their first inaugurations. Reagan garnered 2.2% of America’s total population while Clinton received 3.2%.

750,000 folks liked Ike enough to travel to Washington for Eisenhower’s inauguration. With the 1950 census counted 150,520,798. That gives Ike an impressive 5% attendance.

The first two Presidents to have over 1 million citizens in attend their inauguration were JFK and LBJ. JFK hit 1 million and LBJ 1.2 or 5.6% and 6.6% of the population.

Obama is set to break those records by nearly all estimates. I’ve read from 2 million to an astonishing 5 million people could attend. There are about 281,421,906 people living in America according to the most recent census. That means Obama would have a 6.7% attendance at the lowest estimate. So percentage wise he would only have broken Lyndon Johnson’s record by 0.1%. That’s not much. We will see at the end of the day if it will only be that small of a record breaking or much larger.

Great Respect – The Genius of Colin Powell

Frederick Douglass, Booker T Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama; all powerful uniters. On the day of the most historic inauguration in our Country’s history, I find it pertinent to write on a uniter in the black community that I admire most: Colin Powell.

In the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, Powell wrote a plea for Americans to work together toward renewal. Government can only do so much. The Government can give a stimulus check to all Americans, but it still cannot force us to make smart decisions with that money. Nor can the government know how best to promote each individual communities needs best. As Powell states, “Particularly in hard times like these, we are charged with living up to our shared responsibility to one another.”

Colin Powell calls us out of our bunkers. Now is not the time to duck and cover. We’ve got to put on our boots, pick up our shovels, and dive in the shit. No one will do it for us. In times of true need, Americans have always come out in droves to help their neighbors. Powell notes this in the article: “It is the time to give more, to step forward and serve our fellow citizens, and to reach into the reservoir of this nation’s unrivaled capacity for good.”

Powell also goes further than many Republican and Libertarians are willing. Powell calls for those with more to give more. “Those of us with the power to ease or eliminate that suffering should come forward”, He says. I am a huge advocate of personal responsibility. I believe you can create, or destroy just about anything you want in your life despite circumstances. However, as humans we band together for mutual prosperity. The main point of government is to preserve that prosperity. So to deny your neighbor money or time when you have and they don’t is morally wrong.

Powell points out that Obama’s call for service to our country does not only extend to those in uniform. Like John Kennedy’s “ask not” speech, Powell reaches out to all Americans. We all have something to give in this time. “You don’t have to wear the uniform of this country to serve others. You don’t have to work in government. And you don’t have to start a foundation. At a time when so many of our countrymen are in need, everyone has the power to help.”

I have already had a profound respect for Colin Powell. I expressed to my wife on many occasions that I would have voted Republican had Powell run for President. I was disappointed for a while that he didn’t run. I know that he will continue to be a powerful voice of reason and moderation in his party and for the country. I would pray that Americans will heed his call to action, putting aside party and ideology. I can already feel a fire alight in the heart of this country, an electricity sparking. Americans are already marching down the path that Powell, Obama, and others have proposed. My heart will undoubtedly fill with pride tomorrow. Over the next months and years, after Americans band together to conquer hardship after hardship and my heart will grow ten times. I hate to be cliché, but all I can say is YES WE CAN!

The clip is almost a half hour. Powell comes in around 2 minutes.

Great Respect – The Genius of Colin Powell

Frederick Douglass, Booker T Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama; all powerful uniters. On the day of the most historic inauguration in our Country’s history, I find it pertinent to write on a uniter in the black community that I admire most: Colin Powell.

In the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, Powell wrote a plea for Americans to work together toward renewal. Government can only do so much. The Government can give a stimulus check to all Americans, but it still cannot force us to make smart decisions with that money. Nor can the government know how best to promote each individual communities needs best. As Powell states, “Particularly in hard times like these, we are charged with living up to our shared responsibility to one another.”

Colin Powell calls us out of our bunkers. Now is not the time to duck and cover. We’ve got to put on our boots, pick up our shovels, and dive in the shit. No one will do it for us. In times of true need, Americans have always come out in droves to help their neighbors. Powell notes this in the article: “It is the time to give more, to step forward and serve our fellow citizens, and to reach into the reservoir of this nation’s unrivaled capacity for good.”

Powell also goes further than many Republican and Libertarians are willing. Powell calls for those with more to give more. “Those of us with the power to ease or eliminate that suffering should come forward”, He says. I am a huge advocate of personal responsibility. I believe you can create, or destroy just about anything you want in your life despite circumstances. However, as humans we band together for mutual prosperity. The main point of government is to preserve that prosperity. So to deny your neighbor money or time when you have and they don’t is morally wrong.

Powell points out that Obama’s call for service to our country does not only extend to those in uniform. Like John Kennedy’s “ask not” speech, Powell reaches out to all Americans. We all have something to give in this time. “You don’t have to wear the uniform of this country to serve others. You don’t have to work in government. And you don’t have to start a foundation. At a time when so many of our countrymen are in need, everyone has the power to help.”

I have already had a profound respect for Colin Powell. I expressed to my wife on many occasions that I would have voted Republican had Powell run for President. I was disappointed for a while that he didn’t run. I know that he will continue to be a powerful voice of reason and moderation in his party and for the country. I would pray that Americans will heed his call to action, putting aside party and ideology. I can already feel a fire alight in the heart of this country, an electricity sparking. Americans are already marching down the path that Powell, Obama, and others have proposed. My heart will undoubtedly fill with pride tomorrow. Over the next months and years, after Americans band together to conquer hardship after hardship and my heart will grow ten times. I hate to be cliché, but all I can say is YES WE CAN!

The clip is almost a half hour. Powell comes in around 2 minutes.