I think the telephoto lens is making the Capitol appear closer than it is.  The clock is ticking away and now I’m not sure we’re going to make it for the swearing-in ceremony.  “Well, we’ll see whatever we see and the main thing is:  We’re here.  This is top-of-the-line adventure,” we said to each other.

Maybe if I zoom in the full 600 mm I’ll be able to see something.  Well, there’s another security guard on the side of the building.  It’s now 11:48 AM.  I wonder if they know how many of us are still out here in line trying to get in?

Do people understand the significance of this day—this event?  We are a nation rich in tradition and rich in the love of freedom and liberty.  I can’t believe we are here.  I can’t ever get over the miracle of a telephone let alone the great miracle of this republic.

They’re preparing for the parade there down below us off the Hill.  I’m starting to get nervous.  It’s now 11:55 AM.  We’re getting through the final part of security line.

It’s such a tease to be this close and not be able to see the event we’ve come to see.  Now we really have to hurry—I guess if I stopped taking so many pictures we might could still make it.  It’s 11:59 AM.

We rounded the corner and I heard Senator Trent Lott announce that the President would now take the oath of office administered by Chief Justice William Rehnquist.  Now we ran and got to this point and although I couldn’t tell what I was looking at I just took the picture as I heard the President say, “I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States…”

As I looked closer at the photograph before this one (late last night) I noticed that, sure enough, the President is in the picture.  Can you see him there with his right arm raised?  You can see the back of Laura Bush’s head to the left.  There on the right you can see the Chief Justice’s robe (click to enlarge if you’re not sure what I’m talking about).  I was so excited that at least we got to capture this moment and hear the oath pass through our own minds.  If you go back to the last picture you can see all of this too—I just cropped this one from the last one to come in tighter for you.  And, if you look more closely at the last picture, you will see that the man just barely left of dead center (gray hair, dark coat with his back to us) is Senator John Kerry.

Senator Kerry looked at me (it seemed) as I pointed the camera at him.  There is a look of disappointment on his face—and of course there would be—but isn’t it a powerful thing to have the opponent of the President on the stand with him, celebrating with all of us?  With all the views we have had into elections in far-away places like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Palestine and now Iraq, it says so much about this great nation.

The President’s speech was stunning.  I have not heard the likes of it, save only once or twice, in my lifetime.  We have published the entire Second Inaugural Speech here.  It’s worth reading and studying.  It’s a beacon of hope to all nations.

I was amazed by the grandeur and pomp of this traditional event.  I was grateful for the President’s calm resolve in the face of a lawsuit from an avowed atheist about the use of Christian prayers and the Bible in this national celebration.  President Bush said, “First of all, I will place my hand on the Bible.”  And he did.  The lawsuit was dismissed without comment at all levels (including the Supreme Court).

President Bush’s recent comment “I don’t see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord,” has come under fire.  But he is not unlike other men who have held this office.  George Washington said at his first inaugural, “…it would be particularly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe.”

Large monitors were placed all around the National Mall so that visitors could see the President up close even if they were standing up to a mile away.  The inauguration celebration costs about $40 million and is mostly funded by private individuals.

The Stars and Stripes were everywhere.  This made our hearts swell with love for our nation and for the principles which the President talked about in his address.

Click here to go to Part 3, the final part of Eyewitness of the Presidential Inauguration.