Parade announcer gears up for his 14th inaugural

Charlie Brotman's gentle, off-the-cuff announcing style has been an Inaugural Day parade tradition since 1957.

It also got him into a bit of trouble four years ago.

It seems that Brotman, an avid sports fan, was so excited about the return of major league baseball to the nation's capital that he took advantage of a lull in the parade to ask - over the loudspeaker for all to hear - if President George W. Bush would throw out the ceremonial pitch at the Washington Nationals' opening game that year.

Bush, in his place of honor at the reviewing stand, looked up at Brotman's broadcast booth across Pennsylvania Avenue, smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "Beats me."

"Two minutes later," Brotman said, "a big guy comes up and says, 'Are you the announcer?' I says 'Yes, sir.' 'I'm Secret Service for the president. Don't make any more direct announcements directed to the president - and do NOT ask any questions of the president in your announcements.'"

Gulp.

Though sufficiently chastened from that episode, the 81-year-old local legend is not to be deterred from having a little fun. After all, he's the announcer who got the crowd, including the VIPs, to do the "wave" while waiting for late-arriving Bill Clinton in 1997. Given that President-elect Barack Obama is a known athlete - at least as a pickup basketball player - Brotman would like to work the sports angle again at today's inauguration, although in a more security-friendly way.

Brotman will be at the microphone for his 14th consecutive inaugural parade, an honor he's performed since the start of Dwight Eisenhower's second term. The basement of his suburban Maryland home is crammed with fascinating photos and other memorabilia from decades of hobnobbing with politicians, celebrities and sports greats, mostly from his work as a sports public address announcer, founder of the public relations firm that bears his name and, of course, as the announcer for the presidents.

There's Brotman with LBJ. With Ford and Reagan together. Shaking hands with Nixon. One with each of the Bushes. George W. Bush has his arm around Brotman's shoulders on the South Lawn of the White House, a memory from the day Brotman was asked to announce one of the president's T-ball games.

"He says, 'Charlie, I understand that you're the announcer for all these inaugurals. Do you have pictures of the past presidents?'" Brotman said. "I said, 'Well, I've got a lot of them. I've got everybody but - you.'"

Bush replied: "Well, let's change that" and posed for the camera.

Brotman has distinct memories of all the parades. Eisenhower's was "very conservative" to match the president's military, no-nonsense style. Brotman's favorites were the more show biz-style productions put on by John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. George W. Bush's first parade was "the most disorganized ever" because of the shortened preparation time following the disputed election.

Now Brotman has the honor of announcing a parade for the first black president.

"Boggles the mind," Brotman said. "It has got to be the most meaningful of all inaugural parades and ceremonies. What has happened here is that America has been feeling as though it's not the America of old. All of a sudden, we appear to be the bad guy in some areas, and we're really a good guy. And it appears now with Obama as the new leader, he has persuaded Americans into believing this is the America of old. You're going to be proud to be American again. This is exciting. It's a love affair with our new leader. It's wonderful. It's not always that way."

Brotman isn't sure how he got the announcing gig in the first place, although he believes Eisenhower remembered him as the announcer at Griffith Stadium when the president threw out the first pitch for the old Washington Senators in 1956.

By now, one would think that Brotman's selection every four years would be automatic, but he has to break through layers of bureaucracy to make his pitch anew whenever there's a change in administration. Once he had persuaded Obama's workers that he was for real - "I'm sure they Googled me and asked references and that type of thing," Brotman said - they invited him on board and even started asking him for help with the parade script.

Brotman will actually be one of six parade announcers lining Pennsylvania Avenue, but he's the only one stationed in front of the president.

"It's better organized than I've ever experienced in the past," Brotman said. "They have so many volunteers to take care of each and every segment. It's got to be one of the best parades we've ever had because it's so well-organized."