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Inaugural Celebrations in Full Swing; A Look Back at JFK's Famous 1961 Speech
Aired January 20, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're two and a half hours into the second term of this president. President Bush getting ready to walk down those stairs. This is the east front of the U.S. Capitol. A military revue of color guard. That will set the stage for his getting into that motorcade to begin the procession down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
Our correspondent, Joe Johns, is over on the east front of the Capitol right now. Joe, set the scene for us. What's about to happen?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is, of course, the departure of the president from the United States Capitol, a place where so many battles over his legacy will be fought in the coming months, about to begin the second term. He'll come to the top landing here on the east front with Senator Lott and Senator Dodd. He'll be met by the commanding general of the military district of Washington, General Jackman, about halfway down.
Of course, hopefully you can see they're lined on either side of the stairs as the joint U.S. honor cordon. He'll come to the landing and then he will review the troops. That, of course, will include, among others, Pershing's own the U.S. army band. And they will escort him down to begin the parade at Pennsylvania Avenue. This is, obviously, a very ceremonial moment as the president leaves to begin his second term -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Joe, we'll be watching it inside. The president is wrapping up. We see the president's brother, Jeb Bush, leaving as well. The governor of Florida.
David Gergen is up on Capitol Hill. He's been watching all of this with us together. David, as we look at these pictures, the luncheon wrapping up inside statuary hall, the color guard, the military revue about to begin, the formal departure of the president for his return to the White House. What's going through your mind?
DAVID GERGEN, SPEECHWRITER: Well, Wolf, there was a great warrant in that capitol rotunda room today at the luncheon. And I think all Americans on this day traditionally raise a glass to the president of the United States after he takes his oath and begins his term. Yet one can't help but feel, Wolf, that on this day, it's very different from just four years ago. Then when a young George W. Bush took the oath of office, there was a sense of fresh hope that we could bind up our wounds of the past, that we could unite as a people. And indeed, after 9/11, we did for a while. But then the old divisions reappeared, and now they're deeper than ever.
And today, I must say, that just two and a half hours after the inauguration, there's already a sense, I think in the commentary we've had, listening to the people in Ohio, listening to Candy Crowley talk about how Democrats are loaded for bear, talking about how restive some of the Republicans are. There's not that same sense of hope right now, that the divisions are so deep here in the country, and divisions with other nations are very deep.
The BBC just had a poll that came out in the last 48 hours in which publics overseas were slamming the president's leadership. So I think the sense right now I have is that one would like to believe these next four years will be those of high accomplishment, high purpose and noble efforts by all Americans. But one has a very strong sense as well now that we're heading into very contentious years.
BLITZER: Is the division, David, largely almost exclusively the result of the war in Iraq, or are there other aspects of this division that you think are so poignant?
GERGEN: I think the war in Iraq and now the president's commitment to an even more ambitious agenda overseas is going to be divisive between America and other nations. It's divisive here at home. But there are also cultural differences here that have come to light during this campaign. Different understandings about what America should be, about our religion, what role religion should play in our national policy-making.
You hear it in Ohio, as Carlos Watson was interviewing people, how many there responded to the religious talk in the president's speech, even more than they did to the policy. Those differences have become pretty profound in different parts of the country. I've had a chance to travel recently in different parts of the country and I can tell you the conversations are very different in the South and the West from what they are, say, in the Northeast. And we are -- we're not a united people now. We talk about e pluribus unim, "from many, one," but there's a lot more pluribus right now than there is unim.
BLITZER: David Gergen, always good to have you participate with us together during these special occasions. Today being a very special occasion. It happens once every four years in the United States, the inauguration of the president.
Jeff Greenfield, you've been watching this speech. You've also been watching a lot of other presidential speeches as part of your role as CNN senior analyst.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: And retired speechwriter. One in particular, the speech that probably anyone who's old enough most remembers was John Kennedy's 1961 inaugural. We've talked about that some but I went back and talked to some of the -- one of the principals, a couple other principals involved to show you why specifically that speech uniquely is remembered as well as it is. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are not just my goals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And writers on the earth together, let us go forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But always trying and always gaining.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): The world little notes nor long remembers what most presidents say at their inaugurals. Only a handful still echo. Lincoln's second pledging to bind up the wounds of the Civil War. And FDR in 1933, rallying citizens battered by a Great Depression.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
GREENFIELD: And, of course, this one.
JOHN F. KENNEDY, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom.
GREENFIELD: On a wintry noon 44 years ago, an improbably young president, the first of his faith, elected by an improbably narrow margin, stood on the east front of the Capitol. For the tens of millions who watched that day, the memories come from the stark black and white TV images, images that capture a dramatic changing of the guard from the oldest president ever to the youngest ever elected.
KENNEDY: Let the world go worth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.
THURSTON CLARKE, AUTHOR, "ASK NOT": People only had to look at their television sets and see that line illustrated by the people on the platform.
GREENFIELD: Thurston Clarke, author of "Ask Not," a book about Kennedy's inaugural.
CLARKE: There is Eisenhower. He looks small and shrunken into this big overcoat. And there was Kennedy. And Kennedy had taken great care with his personal appearance. He was aware of the importance of looking good on television.
GREENFIELD: In the first weeks after the election, Kennedy was focused more on who would be serving with him than on what he would be saying.
TED SORENSON, SPEECHWRITER FOR JFK: So we both had a lot on our plate and it wasn't until around the holiday season that we began to talk about the inaugural. GREENFIELD: Ted Sorenson was JFK's chief speechwriter and a key policy adviser. He sent out a telegram to well-known Democratic thinkers asking them for their ideas, then sat down for a conversation with Kennedy.
(on camera): And when you did, where'd the conversation go?
SORENSON: First of all, he wanted it to be short. He believed in brevity and asked me to find out how short would it have to be to be the shortest in the century.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): Sorenson scribbled down Kennedy's instructions, then went to work, measuring the length of past inaugurals. When he finished a draft of his own, he pointedly noted how short his draft was. But what about the substance of the speech? Sorenson says its intended audience was clear.
SORENSON: Khrushchev made a speech, the leader of the Soviet Union, threatening the West with what he called wars of liberation. So we knew that it had to be a focus.
CLARKE: On the one hand, it was holding out an olive branch to Khrushchev and the Russians.
KENNEDY: Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
CLARKE: And then to counterbalance that, he had to let the Soviets know that he wasn't going to be bullied.
KENNEDY: We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, or pose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
GREENFIELD: There was also the question of authorship. When Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for his "Profiles and Courage" book, there were charges it had, in fact, been written by Sorenson. In the case of JFK's inaugural, there is convincing evidence that many, if not most of its most memorable themes and phrases were authored by Kennedy himself, dictating many of them to his longtime secretary Evelyn Lincoln aboard the Caroline, his private plane.
KENNEDY: This much we pledge and more.
GREENFIELD: Moreover, as Thurston Clarke points out, there was 36 changes in the speech that Kennedy made as he was delivering it. Listen to what he said as opposed to what was written, and you'll see.
KENNEDY: Tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
GREENFIELD: The inaugural itself was memorable on many counts. The night before, Washington was hit by a blizzard that made travel to the balls almost impossible. Newsman Sander Vanocur covered the inaugural for NBC News. SANDER VANOCUR, NEWSMAN: It was terrible, but the next day, as it were, the clouds parted. It was a brilliant day. Cold. But there was nothing against television coverage because there was no snow.
GREENFIELD: And because Kennedy's speech was a sustained, unified piece, there were no obvious applause lines.
(on camera): I can't imagine you and the president sitting down and saying, that's a great sound byte.
SORENSON: No, we didn't write in sound bytes in those days, nor, just to show you how much the world has changed, did we write in applause lines. I sat up there on the platform behind him getting nervous because, for the first, oh, I would say, 25, 30 percent of the speech, there was no applause at all. And I thought maybe this is a flop.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): But by the time Kennedy came to the central message of the speech, the crowd was cheering.
KENNEDY: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
GREENFIELD: In fact, the speech was an instant hit, even for a prominent conservative columnist of the day like the "New York Times"' Arthur Krock.
CLARKE: Kennedy was seated next to him at dinner and said, well, what did you think of the speech? Arthur Krock said I think it was one of the greatest presidential speeches since Woodrow Wilson, if not the greatest.
GREENFIELD: There was one other notable event that day. When the Coast Guard contingent marched by, Kennedy noticed it was all white and pointed this out to Dick Goodwin (ph), a young Kennedy aide.
DICK GOODWIN (ph), FMR. JFK AIDE: He says there wasn't a black face in there. He said, so I want you to get on that, which was his command, which was do something about it.
GREENFIELD: By the time the next class was admitted, segregation among students and the faculty was over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: Now, people ask why can't a speech like that happen today? One of the reasons is, we live in a much more conversational time, Wolf, at a time when presidents tell us whether they wear boxers or briefs, when we feel we know them intimately, that kind of high- toned elegant language probably doesn't work. And the second reason is so many speeches since then have tried to copy the cadence and rhetoric of Kennedy that to do a speech like that now almost sounds artificial. Presidents now need to find their own voices in an era when we're much more suspicious about rhetoric than we were back in 1961. BLITZER: And it was a different era. And as we look at these pictures Jeff, and Barbara, the president will be shortly emerging from the Capitol for this military revue. It's the final act of his -- as he departs the Capitol to return to the White House. We'll watch this unfold. Barbara, remember, that Kennedy speech in 1961 was before Vietnam, was before Watergate, was before a lot of the so- called scandals that emerged in the years that followed. And I think that underscores what Jeff is saying. It was a different world.
BARBARA KELLERMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Yes. It was also a time when trust in government was still extremely high. It seems like an incredibly innocent and almost blissful time at this moment. And I must say, Wolf, I was particularly struck by the screen, as Jeff's very good piece was unfolding. Because on the one side, we saw John Kennedy in his prime, but on the left-hand side of the screen, we saw Edward Kennedy, now older than his older brother was. And it really evoked a change of decades that is impossible to capture in other than pictures. But the other point I would make is that that's a moment that was contextually so striking because it was, in fact, the young and handsome president taking over, different party, different generation. One really did have a sense then for those of us who can remember back, of renewal, possibility and hope that I think is part of what's going on today, but not, obviously, to the same degree for reasons that have been alluded to before.
BLITZER: You're seeing the guests who were inside Statuary Hall emerge. If you see them carrying shopping bags, and they are, those are the gifts they received from the congressional leadership, part of being a guest on this historic day. When you were listening to Jeff's piece, David Gergen, what did it evoke for you?
DAVID GERGEN: Well, Jeff's piece was wonderful, and it brought back so many memories of that 1961 inaugural. But I must say that I don't entirely agree with Jeff about the fact that good rhetoric is different today or what will work rhetorically. Two of the best speakers of our time, Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson in the last few years have shown us that eloquence can still be very effective and alliterations and the pay any price, bear any burden, those kind of alliterations, the poetry of speech-making, I think has eternal qualities. You find it in Lincoln, you find it in Jefferson, you find it in Kennedy, you found some of it in Reagan. And I would argue you will find it in future speeches. And today's presidential speech -- I thought President Bush almost went out of his way not to be lyrical in that sense. Almost -- it's hard to find an alliteration in that speech. It's hard to find a rhythm, a cadence of the kind that you associate with classical or moving oratory. Because I think he's a very plainspoken man and he doesn't want to be wrapped up in rhetoric. But I do believe that there is room still in our politics, in our discourse for oratory that moves people and reaches them emotionally. Kennedy's speeches also reached people emotionally, they inspired people. They had a sense of idealism. Of course, we were more innocent. But I think people still respond to the high calling of good oratory.
BLITZER: The rhetorical flourish of John F. Kennedy's ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country I saw something similar a few times in the president's speech today. For example, David, when he said the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. it seemed sort of be a takeoff to a certain degree of that kind of rhetorical expression.
GERGEN: Some, but to go back to when Jeff was talking to Ted Sorenson and Sorenson went back and looked at the speeches and what he concluded was the shorter was always better, that a shorter paragraph is better than a longer paragraph, a shorter sentence is better than a shorter sentence, and a shorter word is better than a longer word. So one-syllable words, Anglo Saxon words, pay any price, bear any burden, again, you have a lot of one-syllable words in the Kennedy speech. And when you listen to the president today, it increasingly depends upon -- those are words of almost of Washington. They're a little more, frankly, a little more official-ese and not the Anglo Saxon that I think we associate again with classical oratory and that I think still -- in my judgment, still moves people.
BLITZER: There's the president and the first lady, the vice president, Senator Lott and Senator Dodd. They have been escorting the president and the vice president and the first lady and Mrs. Cheney virtually every step of the way on this inauguration day. General Jackman is there. He's going to be taking them down for this military revue. David, stand by for a minute. Barbara, the military review, the significance of this military review, especially at a time -- there's always a military review, a color guard, but at this time, when the nation is at war, there's an added significance.
KELLERMAN: Well, there is an added significance. And it's not just about what we're seeing at the moment. And it's not just about our soldiers who are now in Iraq or other places around the world. But I think it's about those who died in the last year-plus, and particularly perhaps about those who are wounded, who are, in a way, living reminders of what it means to send this country into war. So I think there's a special poignancy at this moment that is evoked by the parade, but also by the thoughts that we have, all of us share, for those who died and/or are wounded by the recent wars.
BLITZER: This must be, Jeff Greenfield, so much on the mind of the president. He is, after all, the commander-in-chief.
GREENFIELD: Every president has always said, and it's not surprising, that the single most difficult decision, the one that weighs on them, literally keeps them up at night, is the decision to send American soldiers, sailors into harm's way. The other part about what we're seeing now, Wolf and Barbara, is that in these kinds of events, whether it's in time of peace or war, that the military always plays a big role because a lot of the tradition is rooted in military tradition. The 21-gun salute by which we hailed the chief of state goes back to military days. That's how much ordinance you could fire at a certain moment to make something symbolic. The military is known as an enterprise that is very good at organization. At marching. At the kinds of things we associate with civic pageants, Wolf.
BLITZER: And so the procession about to begin. Candy Crowley, you're in the rotunda, what do you see from where you are? CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They're just walking out of the rotunda. The president's actually made several trips through here getting from one place to another.
BLITZER: I'm not hearing Candy. Candy, can you hear me?
CROWLEY: I can hear you, Wolf, fine. Can you hear me?
BLITZER: Hold on a second, Candy. Let's watch this unfold.
The president revueing the military parade as it's beginning. Joe Johns is right there on the east front of the U.S. Capitol watching. Joe, set the -- tell us what specifically we're seeing now. Which units are these?
All right. Unfortunately, I don't think Joe is hearing me. But this is the U.S. Army Band moving in front of the president, military revue under way. President accompanied by General Jackman, who is his escort officer together with the vice president, Mrs. Cheney and the first lady. This will set the stage for the formal departure.
The president will get into the motorcade and begin the process of heading back to the White House. The revueing stand there where the president will get into that revueing stand and watch the rest of this parade unfold annual -- actually, every four years. It happens almost precisely exactly as it does this time -- Jeff.
GREENFIELD: We're talking a bit about where these kinds of traditions originate. In this case, this presidential escort, it goes back to George Washington. We can't go back further than that ex- president. He was escorted on the steps of New York's Federal Hall by members of the then brand-new U.S. Armed Forces when he was sworn in as the first president of the United States.
And this tradition actually has continued ever since. It proceeds the start of the inaugural parade. It's composed of all the branches of the Armed Services and other military and police presences. But it underscores the point that the involvement of the military, in political events, is literally as old as the republic.
BLITZER: The third infantry fife and drum, which has been a favorite for so many years, so many years, going back all the way to the era of the Revolutionary War. This brings back American history to its fullest. Barbara, as you watch this, what do you think?
KELLERMAN: Well, actually, I can't help but piggy-back on the reference to George Washington. Because George Washington, as we know, was so averse to the idea of any parallels between him and the king of Great Britain, which is part of how the whole constitution, the Bill of Rights, was sold. But, in fact, for all his rejection of the idea of a coronation of any kind, as we look at today, this is about as close to a series of coronation ceremonies that we come.
While the emphasis is partly on Congress and unity, both parties, all branches of government, it's so clearly today the story of one man, that is, the man who is elected president. So in terms of any parallels between the United States of America and the king of Great Britain or the queen of Great Britain, if you're looking for them, they sure do exist today.
BLITZER: The president and the first lady about to get into this brand-new Cadillac limousine. We're told it's a model 2006 Cadillac. It's called a DTS limousine. It's been exclusively designed and built for the president of the United States by Cadillac, General Motors. Today is the first day it's being used. Four years ago, another presidential limousine was unveiled. This one looks pretty impressive. I know, Jeff Greenfield, you're a car aficionado. You like this car?
GREENFIELD: Yes, I understand that CNN is going to provide them, Wolf, for all the anchors as a special tribute. So you may be looking forward to coming to work in one just like this.
KELLERMAN: And break out the guests.
BLITZER: We're told by General Motors that Cadillac is no stranger to the White House transportation fleets, as the company has been manufacturing special vehicles and limousines for the president since the early 1900s.
Presidents who have used Cadillacs in their administration include Woodrow Wilson, Coolidge, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, Clinton and Bush. That would be all of the more recent presidents. I guess it would not be smart for the president to be driving a foreign-made car, right?
GREENFIELD: Really a bad idea. By the way, since you're on this theme, we should note, since we are surrounded by a historian anchor. 1921, Warren G. Hardy, the first president to ride to and from his inaugural in his automobile. But since he died in office and is considered one of the worst presidents, I'm not sure that metaphor works too well for anybody.
BLITZER: There is the vice president and his grandchildren, two of his grandchildren. Very exciting, historic day for them. I wonder if they fully appreciate how significant this -- and he's getting into his own limousine to begin that drive over to the White House. It's -- this ends one specific part of the ceremony, but this day is by no means over with yet. The military parade, all of the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, is about to begin. That will last a couple hours.
And later tonight, Barbara, there are all these balls, I think nine specific balls that will be taking place. The president, the vice president, they'll have to go to each and every one of those, spend about 20 minutes at each one.
KELLERMAN: Well, George Bush is normally known to be in bed by 10:00 at night. This is going to be really stepping out on the town for him. He's also known to be rather averse to showmanship on the dance floor. So we'll have to see what the nine balls tonight evoke.
BLITZER: All right. Take a look at this. They're -- I guess they're just waiting for the right moment for that motorcade to begin the drive down Pennsylvania Avenue. Jeff, as you remember, Jimmy Carter, when he made that drive down Pennsylvania Avenue, at one point, you know what he did? He just decided to get out and start walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. I think it's pretty clear that's unlikely to happen today.
GREENFIELD: Well, he started a tradition. And Jimmy Carter campaigned as the anti-imperial president, known for carrying his own garment bag, sleeping in the homes of supporters. He wore a business suit to his inaugural instead of a morning coat. And part of the symbol of the people's president was that he, in fact, his whole family, walked most of the distance of Pennsylvania Avenue. And most presidents since, not all, but most have done just that. I guess it's one of the few things we don't know for sure as to whether president and Mrs. Bush will get out of this car that you seem to be so fond of and walk a few blocks.
BLITZER: This is the first inauguration since 9/11, and security is unprecedented, very tight. My gut tells me that the Secret Service agents surrounding the president hope he stays in that car, although sometimes you can't control the president of the United States. Having been a White House correspondent and talked to these agents over many years myself, I know they get frustrated when the president, who is their boss after all, says I want to do this, and they have to live with that, that consequence.
You see the agents alongside this new limousine that the president is using today. One other thing that we should point out, if you see white on the sides, that was snow that did happen yesterday. The day is pretty good today, though. No snow. A little bit overcast, but certainly a lot better than it was yesterday. In the right upper part of your screen, you see the route that the president's going to be taking from the Capitol to the White House.
We're going to be tracking that route for you, show you the way he's going to go. Once he leaves the Capitol, he'll head up Pennsylvania Avenue for that drive, about 1.7 miles or so from the Capitol to the White House, eventually making its way to 15th Street over to Pennsylvania Avenue on the other side, 15th, Pennsylvania, starts and stops. It's a little convoluted here. Those of us who live in Washington, D.C. appreciate the history. And it is a beautiful part of the nation's Capitol, the wide boulevard, if you will, that was envisaged so many centuries -- so many decades ago.
GREENFIELD: In fact, it was on John Kennedy's inaugural down what was then a pretty unprepossessing Pennsylvania Avenue. Something of a skid row. And Kennedy actually came to the White House and very early said, I'd like to figure out some way to make this avenue better and enlisted Pat Moynihan, the future U.N. ambassador and senator, to work on this.
And at one point Pat Moynihan said to the president, when he was a young aide, I really apologize for taking up your time with this Pennsylvania Avenue restoration. Kennedy supposedly said this may be the only thing I ever accomplish. You'd better get to it. And in fact, as you know, Wolf, living here, Pennsylvania Avenue is a lot more attractive.
BLITZER: And in fact, the entire area around Pennsylvania Avenue that the president and the parade will be going through, there's been an enormous -- a remarkable renovation around the MCI Center, where the Washington Wizards play, that whole area is just bursting with new buildings, condominiums, malls, theaters. It's been a dramatic change over these past few years. And it's been a welcome boom for the whole tourism industry right here in the nation's capitol.
GREENFIELD: I guess we should be fair. We should also point out that not that far from this panoply are vast neighborhoods that really have recovered from the 1968 riots. Poor, mostly black. And there that other side of Washington that doesn't get showcased as much as the beautiful monuments and civic centers that we have here.
BLITZER: Here we see the agents actually on board these limousines. They're not going to have to walk, they're just going to be standing the whole way, holding onto these handles that have been put on to the sides. But this, we believe, is the presidential limousine, with the flag there, that's beginning to emerge from the Capitol.
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Aired January 20, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're two and a half hours into the second term of this president. President Bush getting ready to walk down those stairs. This is the east front of the U.S. Capitol. A military revue of color guard. That will set the stage for his getting into that motorcade to begin the procession down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
Our correspondent, Joe Johns, is over on the east front of the Capitol right now. Joe, set the scene for us. What's about to happen?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is, of course, the departure of the president from the United States Capitol, a place where so many battles over his legacy will be fought in the coming months, about to begin the second term. He'll come to the top landing here on the east front with Senator Lott and Senator Dodd. He'll be met by the commanding general of the military district of Washington, General Jackman, about halfway down.
Of course, hopefully you can see they're lined on either side of the stairs as the joint U.S. honor cordon. He'll come to the landing and then he will review the troops. That, of course, will include, among others, Pershing's own the U.S. army band. And they will escort him down to begin the parade at Pennsylvania Avenue. This is, obviously, a very ceremonial moment as the president leaves to begin his second term -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Joe, we'll be watching it inside. The president is wrapping up. We see the president's brother, Jeb Bush, leaving as well. The governor of Florida.
David Gergen is up on Capitol Hill. He's been watching all of this with us together. David, as we look at these pictures, the luncheon wrapping up inside statuary hall, the color guard, the military revue about to begin, the formal departure of the president for his return to the White House. What's going through your mind?
DAVID GERGEN, SPEECHWRITER: Well, Wolf, there was a great warrant in that capitol rotunda room today at the luncheon. And I think all Americans on this day traditionally raise a glass to the president of the United States after he takes his oath and begins his term. Yet one can't help but feel, Wolf, that on this day, it's very different from just four years ago. Then when a young George W. Bush took the oath of office, there was a sense of fresh hope that we could bind up our wounds of the past, that we could unite as a people. And indeed, after 9/11, we did for a while. But then the old divisions reappeared, and now they're deeper than ever.
And today, I must say, that just two and a half hours after the inauguration, there's already a sense, I think in the commentary we've had, listening to the people in Ohio, listening to Candy Crowley talk about how Democrats are loaded for bear, talking about how restive some of the Republicans are. There's not that same sense of hope right now, that the divisions are so deep here in the country, and divisions with other nations are very deep.
The BBC just had a poll that came out in the last 48 hours in which publics overseas were slamming the president's leadership. So I think the sense right now I have is that one would like to believe these next four years will be those of high accomplishment, high purpose and noble efforts by all Americans. But one has a very strong sense as well now that we're heading into very contentious years.
BLITZER: Is the division, David, largely almost exclusively the result of the war in Iraq, or are there other aspects of this division that you think are so poignant?
GERGEN: I think the war in Iraq and now the president's commitment to an even more ambitious agenda overseas is going to be divisive between America and other nations. It's divisive here at home. But there are also cultural differences here that have come to light during this campaign. Different understandings about what America should be, about our religion, what role religion should play in our national policy-making.
You hear it in Ohio, as Carlos Watson was interviewing people, how many there responded to the religious talk in the president's speech, even more than they did to the policy. Those differences have become pretty profound in different parts of the country. I've had a chance to travel recently in different parts of the country and I can tell you the conversations are very different in the South and the West from what they are, say, in the Northeast. And we are -- we're not a united people now. We talk about e pluribus unim, "from many, one," but there's a lot more pluribus right now than there is unim.
BLITZER: David Gergen, always good to have you participate with us together during these special occasions. Today being a very special occasion. It happens once every four years in the United States, the inauguration of the president.
Jeff Greenfield, you've been watching this speech. You've also been watching a lot of other presidential speeches as part of your role as CNN senior analyst.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: And retired speechwriter. One in particular, the speech that probably anyone who's old enough most remembers was John Kennedy's 1961 inaugural. We've talked about that some but I went back and talked to some of the -- one of the principals, a couple other principals involved to show you why specifically that speech uniquely is remembered as well as it is. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are not just my goals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And writers on the earth together, let us go forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But always trying and always gaining.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): The world little notes nor long remembers what most presidents say at their inaugurals. Only a handful still echo. Lincoln's second pledging to bind up the wounds of the Civil War. And FDR in 1933, rallying citizens battered by a Great Depression.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
GREENFIELD: And, of course, this one.
JOHN F. KENNEDY, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom.
GREENFIELD: On a wintry noon 44 years ago, an improbably young president, the first of his faith, elected by an improbably narrow margin, stood on the east front of the Capitol. For the tens of millions who watched that day, the memories come from the stark black and white TV images, images that capture a dramatic changing of the guard from the oldest president ever to the youngest ever elected.
KENNEDY: Let the world go worth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.
THURSTON CLARKE, AUTHOR, "ASK NOT": People only had to look at their television sets and see that line illustrated by the people on the platform.
GREENFIELD: Thurston Clarke, author of "Ask Not," a book about Kennedy's inaugural.
CLARKE: There is Eisenhower. He looks small and shrunken into this big overcoat. And there was Kennedy. And Kennedy had taken great care with his personal appearance. He was aware of the importance of looking good on television.
GREENFIELD: In the first weeks after the election, Kennedy was focused more on who would be serving with him than on what he would be saying.
TED SORENSON, SPEECHWRITER FOR JFK: So we both had a lot on our plate and it wasn't until around the holiday season that we began to talk about the inaugural. GREENFIELD: Ted Sorenson was JFK's chief speechwriter and a key policy adviser. He sent out a telegram to well-known Democratic thinkers asking them for their ideas, then sat down for a conversation with Kennedy.
(on camera): And when you did, where'd the conversation go?
SORENSON: First of all, he wanted it to be short. He believed in brevity and asked me to find out how short would it have to be to be the shortest in the century.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): Sorenson scribbled down Kennedy's instructions, then went to work, measuring the length of past inaugurals. When he finished a draft of his own, he pointedly noted how short his draft was. But what about the substance of the speech? Sorenson says its intended audience was clear.
SORENSON: Khrushchev made a speech, the leader of the Soviet Union, threatening the West with what he called wars of liberation. So we knew that it had to be a focus.
CLARKE: On the one hand, it was holding out an olive branch to Khrushchev and the Russians.
KENNEDY: Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
CLARKE: And then to counterbalance that, he had to let the Soviets know that he wasn't going to be bullied.
KENNEDY: We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, or pose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
GREENFIELD: There was also the question of authorship. When Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for his "Profiles and Courage" book, there were charges it had, in fact, been written by Sorenson. In the case of JFK's inaugural, there is convincing evidence that many, if not most of its most memorable themes and phrases were authored by Kennedy himself, dictating many of them to his longtime secretary Evelyn Lincoln aboard the Caroline, his private plane.
KENNEDY: This much we pledge and more.
GREENFIELD: Moreover, as Thurston Clarke points out, there was 36 changes in the speech that Kennedy made as he was delivering it. Listen to what he said as opposed to what was written, and you'll see.
KENNEDY: Tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
GREENFIELD: The inaugural itself was memorable on many counts. The night before, Washington was hit by a blizzard that made travel to the balls almost impossible. Newsman Sander Vanocur covered the inaugural for NBC News. SANDER VANOCUR, NEWSMAN: It was terrible, but the next day, as it were, the clouds parted. It was a brilliant day. Cold. But there was nothing against television coverage because there was no snow.
GREENFIELD: And because Kennedy's speech was a sustained, unified piece, there were no obvious applause lines.
(on camera): I can't imagine you and the president sitting down and saying, that's a great sound byte.
SORENSON: No, we didn't write in sound bytes in those days, nor, just to show you how much the world has changed, did we write in applause lines. I sat up there on the platform behind him getting nervous because, for the first, oh, I would say, 25, 30 percent of the speech, there was no applause at all. And I thought maybe this is a flop.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): But by the time Kennedy came to the central message of the speech, the crowd was cheering.
KENNEDY: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
GREENFIELD: In fact, the speech was an instant hit, even for a prominent conservative columnist of the day like the "New York Times"' Arthur Krock.
CLARKE: Kennedy was seated next to him at dinner and said, well, what did you think of the speech? Arthur Krock said I think it was one of the greatest presidential speeches since Woodrow Wilson, if not the greatest.
GREENFIELD: There was one other notable event that day. When the Coast Guard contingent marched by, Kennedy noticed it was all white and pointed this out to Dick Goodwin (ph), a young Kennedy aide.
DICK GOODWIN (ph), FMR. JFK AIDE: He says there wasn't a black face in there. He said, so I want you to get on that, which was his command, which was do something about it.
GREENFIELD: By the time the next class was admitted, segregation among students and the faculty was over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: Now, people ask why can't a speech like that happen today? One of the reasons is, we live in a much more conversational time, Wolf, at a time when presidents tell us whether they wear boxers or briefs, when we feel we know them intimately, that kind of high- toned elegant language probably doesn't work. And the second reason is so many speeches since then have tried to copy the cadence and rhetoric of Kennedy that to do a speech like that now almost sounds artificial. Presidents now need to find their own voices in an era when we're much more suspicious about rhetoric than we were back in 1961. BLITZER: And it was a different era. And as we look at these pictures Jeff, and Barbara, the president will be shortly emerging from the Capitol for this military revue. It's the final act of his -- as he departs the Capitol to return to the White House. We'll watch this unfold. Barbara, remember, that Kennedy speech in 1961 was before Vietnam, was before Watergate, was before a lot of the so- called scandals that emerged in the years that followed. And I think that underscores what Jeff is saying. It was a different world.
BARBARA KELLERMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Yes. It was also a time when trust in government was still extremely high. It seems like an incredibly innocent and almost blissful time at this moment. And I must say, Wolf, I was particularly struck by the screen, as Jeff's very good piece was unfolding. Because on the one side, we saw John Kennedy in his prime, but on the left-hand side of the screen, we saw Edward Kennedy, now older than his older brother was. And it really evoked a change of decades that is impossible to capture in other than pictures. But the other point I would make is that that's a moment that was contextually so striking because it was, in fact, the young and handsome president taking over, different party, different generation. One really did have a sense then for those of us who can remember back, of renewal, possibility and hope that I think is part of what's going on today, but not, obviously, to the same degree for reasons that have been alluded to before.
BLITZER: You're seeing the guests who were inside Statuary Hall emerge. If you see them carrying shopping bags, and they are, those are the gifts they received from the congressional leadership, part of being a guest on this historic day. When you were listening to Jeff's piece, David Gergen, what did it evoke for you?
DAVID GERGEN: Well, Jeff's piece was wonderful, and it brought back so many memories of that 1961 inaugural. But I must say that I don't entirely agree with Jeff about the fact that good rhetoric is different today or what will work rhetorically. Two of the best speakers of our time, Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson in the last few years have shown us that eloquence can still be very effective and alliterations and the pay any price, bear any burden, those kind of alliterations, the poetry of speech-making, I think has eternal qualities. You find it in Lincoln, you find it in Jefferson, you find it in Kennedy, you found some of it in Reagan. And I would argue you will find it in future speeches. And today's presidential speech -- I thought President Bush almost went out of his way not to be lyrical in that sense. Almost -- it's hard to find an alliteration in that speech. It's hard to find a rhythm, a cadence of the kind that you associate with classical or moving oratory. Because I think he's a very plainspoken man and he doesn't want to be wrapped up in rhetoric. But I do believe that there is room still in our politics, in our discourse for oratory that moves people and reaches them emotionally. Kennedy's speeches also reached people emotionally, they inspired people. They had a sense of idealism. Of course, we were more innocent. But I think people still respond to the high calling of good oratory.
BLITZER: The rhetorical flourish of John F. Kennedy's ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country I saw something similar a few times in the president's speech today. For example, David, when he said the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. it seemed sort of be a takeoff to a certain degree of that kind of rhetorical expression.
GERGEN: Some, but to go back to when Jeff was talking to Ted Sorenson and Sorenson went back and looked at the speeches and what he concluded was the shorter was always better, that a shorter paragraph is better than a longer paragraph, a shorter sentence is better than a shorter sentence, and a shorter word is better than a longer word. So one-syllable words, Anglo Saxon words, pay any price, bear any burden, again, you have a lot of one-syllable words in the Kennedy speech. And when you listen to the president today, it increasingly depends upon -- those are words of almost of Washington. They're a little more, frankly, a little more official-ese and not the Anglo Saxon that I think we associate again with classical oratory and that I think still -- in my judgment, still moves people.
BLITZER: There's the president and the first lady, the vice president, Senator Lott and Senator Dodd. They have been escorting the president and the vice president and the first lady and Mrs. Cheney virtually every step of the way on this inauguration day. General Jackman is there. He's going to be taking them down for this military revue. David, stand by for a minute. Barbara, the military review, the significance of this military review, especially at a time -- there's always a military review, a color guard, but at this time, when the nation is at war, there's an added significance.
KELLERMAN: Well, there is an added significance. And it's not just about what we're seeing at the moment. And it's not just about our soldiers who are now in Iraq or other places around the world. But I think it's about those who died in the last year-plus, and particularly perhaps about those who are wounded, who are, in a way, living reminders of what it means to send this country into war. So I think there's a special poignancy at this moment that is evoked by the parade, but also by the thoughts that we have, all of us share, for those who died and/or are wounded by the recent wars.
BLITZER: This must be, Jeff Greenfield, so much on the mind of the president. He is, after all, the commander-in-chief.
GREENFIELD: Every president has always said, and it's not surprising, that the single most difficult decision, the one that weighs on them, literally keeps them up at night, is the decision to send American soldiers, sailors into harm's way. The other part about what we're seeing now, Wolf and Barbara, is that in these kinds of events, whether it's in time of peace or war, that the military always plays a big role because a lot of the tradition is rooted in military tradition. The 21-gun salute by which we hailed the chief of state goes back to military days. That's how much ordinance you could fire at a certain moment to make something symbolic. The military is known as an enterprise that is very good at organization. At marching. At the kinds of things we associate with civic pageants, Wolf.
BLITZER: And so the procession about to begin. Candy Crowley, you're in the rotunda, what do you see from where you are? CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They're just walking out of the rotunda. The president's actually made several trips through here getting from one place to another.
BLITZER: I'm not hearing Candy. Candy, can you hear me?
CROWLEY: I can hear you, Wolf, fine. Can you hear me?
BLITZER: Hold on a second, Candy. Let's watch this unfold.
The president revueing the military parade as it's beginning. Joe Johns is right there on the east front of the U.S. Capitol watching. Joe, set the -- tell us what specifically we're seeing now. Which units are these?
All right. Unfortunately, I don't think Joe is hearing me. But this is the U.S. Army Band moving in front of the president, military revue under way. President accompanied by General Jackman, who is his escort officer together with the vice president, Mrs. Cheney and the first lady. This will set the stage for the formal departure.
The president will get into the motorcade and begin the process of heading back to the White House. The revueing stand there where the president will get into that revueing stand and watch the rest of this parade unfold annual -- actually, every four years. It happens almost precisely exactly as it does this time -- Jeff.
GREENFIELD: We're talking a bit about where these kinds of traditions originate. In this case, this presidential escort, it goes back to George Washington. We can't go back further than that ex- president. He was escorted on the steps of New York's Federal Hall by members of the then brand-new U.S. Armed Forces when he was sworn in as the first president of the United States.
And this tradition actually has continued ever since. It proceeds the start of the inaugural parade. It's composed of all the branches of the Armed Services and other military and police presences. But it underscores the point that the involvement of the military, in political events, is literally as old as the republic.
BLITZER: The third infantry fife and drum, which has been a favorite for so many years, so many years, going back all the way to the era of the Revolutionary War. This brings back American history to its fullest. Barbara, as you watch this, what do you think?
KELLERMAN: Well, actually, I can't help but piggy-back on the reference to George Washington. Because George Washington, as we know, was so averse to the idea of any parallels between him and the king of Great Britain, which is part of how the whole constitution, the Bill of Rights, was sold. But, in fact, for all his rejection of the idea of a coronation of any kind, as we look at today, this is about as close to a series of coronation ceremonies that we come.
While the emphasis is partly on Congress and unity, both parties, all branches of government, it's so clearly today the story of one man, that is, the man who is elected president. So in terms of any parallels between the United States of America and the king of Great Britain or the queen of Great Britain, if you're looking for them, they sure do exist today.
BLITZER: The president and the first lady about to get into this brand-new Cadillac limousine. We're told it's a model 2006 Cadillac. It's called a DTS limousine. It's been exclusively designed and built for the president of the United States by Cadillac, General Motors. Today is the first day it's being used. Four years ago, another presidential limousine was unveiled. This one looks pretty impressive. I know, Jeff Greenfield, you're a car aficionado. You like this car?
GREENFIELD: Yes, I understand that CNN is going to provide them, Wolf, for all the anchors as a special tribute. So you may be looking forward to coming to work in one just like this.
KELLERMAN: And break out the guests.
BLITZER: We're told by General Motors that Cadillac is no stranger to the White House transportation fleets, as the company has been manufacturing special vehicles and limousines for the president since the early 1900s.
Presidents who have used Cadillacs in their administration include Woodrow Wilson, Coolidge, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, Clinton and Bush. That would be all of the more recent presidents. I guess it would not be smart for the president to be driving a foreign-made car, right?
GREENFIELD: Really a bad idea. By the way, since you're on this theme, we should note, since we are surrounded by a historian anchor. 1921, Warren G. Hardy, the first president to ride to and from his inaugural in his automobile. But since he died in office and is considered one of the worst presidents, I'm not sure that metaphor works too well for anybody.
BLITZER: There is the vice president and his grandchildren, two of his grandchildren. Very exciting, historic day for them. I wonder if they fully appreciate how significant this -- and he's getting into his own limousine to begin that drive over to the White House. It's -- this ends one specific part of the ceremony, but this day is by no means over with yet. The military parade, all of the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, is about to begin. That will last a couple hours.
And later tonight, Barbara, there are all these balls, I think nine specific balls that will be taking place. The president, the vice president, they'll have to go to each and every one of those, spend about 20 minutes at each one.
KELLERMAN: Well, George Bush is normally known to be in bed by 10:00 at night. This is going to be really stepping out on the town for him. He's also known to be rather averse to showmanship on the dance floor. So we'll have to see what the nine balls tonight evoke.
BLITZER: All right. Take a look at this. They're -- I guess they're just waiting for the right moment for that motorcade to begin the drive down Pennsylvania Avenue. Jeff, as you remember, Jimmy Carter, when he made that drive down Pennsylvania Avenue, at one point, you know what he did? He just decided to get out and start walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. I think it's pretty clear that's unlikely to happen today.
GREENFIELD: Well, he started a tradition. And Jimmy Carter campaigned as the anti-imperial president, known for carrying his own garment bag, sleeping in the homes of supporters. He wore a business suit to his inaugural instead of a morning coat. And part of the symbol of the people's president was that he, in fact, his whole family, walked most of the distance of Pennsylvania Avenue. And most presidents since, not all, but most have done just that. I guess it's one of the few things we don't know for sure as to whether president and Mrs. Bush will get out of this car that you seem to be so fond of and walk a few blocks.
BLITZER: This is the first inauguration since 9/11, and security is unprecedented, very tight. My gut tells me that the Secret Service agents surrounding the president hope he stays in that car, although sometimes you can't control the president of the United States. Having been a White House correspondent and talked to these agents over many years myself, I know they get frustrated when the president, who is their boss after all, says I want to do this, and they have to live with that, that consequence.
You see the agents alongside this new limousine that the president is using today. One other thing that we should point out, if you see white on the sides, that was snow that did happen yesterday. The day is pretty good today, though. No snow. A little bit overcast, but certainly a lot better than it was yesterday. In the right upper part of your screen, you see the route that the president's going to be taking from the Capitol to the White House.
We're going to be tracking that route for you, show you the way he's going to go. Once he leaves the Capitol, he'll head up Pennsylvania Avenue for that drive, about 1.7 miles or so from the Capitol to the White House, eventually making its way to 15th Street over to Pennsylvania Avenue on the other side, 15th, Pennsylvania, starts and stops. It's a little convoluted here. Those of us who live in Washington, D.C. appreciate the history. And it is a beautiful part of the nation's Capitol, the wide boulevard, if you will, that was envisaged so many centuries -- so many decades ago.
GREENFIELD: In fact, it was on John Kennedy's inaugural down what was then a pretty unprepossessing Pennsylvania Avenue. Something of a skid row. And Kennedy actually came to the White House and very early said, I'd like to figure out some way to make this avenue better and enlisted Pat Moynihan, the future U.N. ambassador and senator, to work on this.
And at one point Pat Moynihan said to the president, when he was a young aide, I really apologize for taking up your time with this Pennsylvania Avenue restoration. Kennedy supposedly said this may be the only thing I ever accomplish. You'd better get to it. And in fact, as you know, Wolf, living here, Pennsylvania Avenue is a lot more attractive.
BLITZER: And in fact, the entire area around Pennsylvania Avenue that the president and the parade will be going through, there's been an enormous -- a remarkable renovation around the MCI Center, where the Washington Wizards play, that whole area is just bursting with new buildings, condominiums, malls, theaters. It's been a dramatic change over these past few years. And it's been a welcome boom for the whole tourism industry right here in the nation's capitol.
GREENFIELD: I guess we should be fair. We should also point out that not that far from this panoply are vast neighborhoods that really have recovered from the 1968 riots. Poor, mostly black. And there that other side of Washington that doesn't get showcased as much as the beautiful monuments and civic centers that we have here.
BLITZER: Here we see the agents actually on board these limousines. They're not going to have to walk, they're just going to be standing the whole way, holding onto these handles that have been put on to the sides. But this, we believe, is the presidential limousine, with the flag there, that's beginning to emerge from the Capitol.
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