Constable: The stars, surprises of inaugural hoopla
Inauguration activities aren't always a window into the soul of our new president.
James Brown, the godfather of soul, performed his hit "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" at an inaugural ball for - wait for it - Republican Richard Nixon in 1969.
The "wildest inauguration party of all time" was in 1829, when new President Andrew Jackson opened up the White House to the public, who broke china and furniture before being lured back onto the lawn with tubs of whiskey, says Jim Bendat, author of "Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President." But that party was more fun than the 1873 ball at the second inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant, when an unheated ballroom was so cold that 100 canaries brought in to sing for the guests froze to death.
The modern tradition of inviting entertainers and celebrities began in 1941 with Franklin D. Roosevelt, says Bendat, a lawyer and Northwestern University graduate who is working these next few days as an inauguration expert for CNN.
"That's the first inaugural gala, and he had some people there," Bendat says. Actor Mickey Rooney did impersonations and comedian Charlie Chaplin performed his anti-Hitler monologue from "The Great Dictator" as part of the festivities the night before Roosevelt was sworn in for the third time.
Inauguration events for our 45th president won't be as star-studded as those for some of his predecessors, Bendat notes. Aretha Franklin sang and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill performed for Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. Beyoncé sang "At Last" at a ball that night and also performed our national anthem at Obama's 2013 inauguration. But Beyoncé and her Destiny's Child mates also sang at the inauguration of Republican George W. Bush in 2001.
"Party affiliation has never been much of an issue in the past," Bendat says. "This time, Donald Trump's oratory has rubbed some people the wrong way."
Barbra Streisand might have sung Friday if Hillary Clinton were being inaugurated, but Streisand already has performed at inaugural events for Democrat Bill Clinton in 1993, Republican George H.W. Bush in 1989 and Democrat Lyndon Johnson in 1965. Crooner Ethel Merman sang during the inauguration festivities for Democrat John F. Kennedy in 1961 and for Republican Ronald Reagan in 1981. Ben Vereen performed a minstrel number in "black face" for Reagan in 1985. Frank Sinatra organized galas for Kennedy and Reagan.
As part of his 1949 inauguration, Democrat Harry Truman brought in a diverse crowd of entertainers that included jazz legends Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman, Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat, singer Lena Horne, and comedians Edgar Bergen and Abbott & Costello. Republican Dwight Eisenhower brought back Hampton and Abbott & Costello and drew stars such as John Wayne, Ed Sullivan, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. The Republican Wayne also played a role in events for Democrat Jimmy Carter's 1977 inauguration.
The most star-studded gala had to be the 1961 activities surrounding the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
"That's the biggest list I've seen," Bendat says. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh did comedy, as did Milton Berle. Performers included singers Merman, Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Durante, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, opera star Helen Traubel, dancer Gene Kelly, and actors Sidney Poitier, Bette Davis, Anthony Quinn and Laurence Olivier.
This weekend's inauguration should set new marks, however, for demonstrations.
"The biggest protests came at both of Richard Nixon's inaugurations and both for George W. Bush," Bendat says.
The Vietnam War led to Nixon protests. The disputed election fueled the protest of the first Bush inauguration, while the war in Iraq fed the protests in 2004.
"If you go way back, there was a women's march in 1913," Bendat says, noting an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 women marched in Washington the day before Woodrow Wilson took office.
With a Women's March on Washington and in cities around the nation on Saturday to "promote women's equality and defend other marginalized groups," that record is expected to be broken.