Monday’s inauguration will be moved inside due to cold weather
At least, that’s the reason that’s being given by Trump:
The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!).
Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather.
When I look up the weather forecast for DC on Monday, it says 24 degrees with winds between 10 and 20 miles per hour. That’s indeed cold, and although for New Englanders it’s not at all unusual, it’s bitter for DC. I suspect, however, that moving the ceremony inside also makes security much easier. I’ve been worried about security for that day, and so I prefer this solution.
Here are the cold weather precedents:
The last time the ceremony was moved inside was for Ronald Reagan in 1985, also due to extremely cold temperatures. It was 7 degrees with some stiff winds topping 30 mph, which put the wind chills well below zero.
Wow. That is much colder. More:
Historically, early presidential inaugurations were often held indoors within the Capitol, explained FOX News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram to FOX Weather, noting that President Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration followed this tradition.
Pergram further explained that President James Monroe initiated the practice of holding inaugurations outdoors. This shift occurred after the War of 1812, during which the British forces burned the Capitol building.
In addition, every US schoolkid knows – or used to know; I have no idea what they learn these days – that President William Henry Harrison apparently contracted pneumonia because of standing in the cold and wet to deliver his inauguration address in 1841, and died a month later. Although many people on the left would love for Trump to follow that particular precedent, he’s not taking that chance.
The first inauguration I can recall was that of President Kennedy. I was a child at the time, and I watched it in black-and-white on TV, and I remember it as very cold. Looking it up now, I see that was indeed the case:
In 1961, when John F Kennedy was sworn in, temperatures didn’t get past 22F (-5C) in the afternoon and there was 8 inches (20cm) of snow on the ground.
Not as much wind, though? More on the weather here:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was put in charge of clearing the streets during the evening and morning before the inauguration, and were assisted by more than 1,000 District of Columbia employees and 1,700 Boy Scouts. This task force employed hundreds of dump trucks, front-end loaders, sanders, plows, rotaries, and flamethrowers to clear the route. Over 1,400 cars which had been stranded due to the conditions and lack of fuel had to be removed from the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue.
I see from footage of JFK’s inauguration that he seems to have worn a topcoat without a scarf. And then there’s the bit about the top hat and JFK:
NOTE: Does getting chilled predispose a person to coming down with a cold or pneumonia? Well, maybe a little tiny bit:
“If you’re a little bit colder outside, your body’s immune system may just drop a little bit because it’s spending extra effort to keep you warm. That’s not with everybody, but, in some cases, it may predispose you to a cold,” says Dr. Bracamonte.
But, he says, the cold weather itself doesn’t cause the common cold. However, as winter temps dip down, the chances of spreading a respiratory virus go up because more time is spent indoors with others.
“…the cold weather itself doesn’t cause the common cold.
My mother, Dr. Mom, would like to have a word with Dr. Bracamonte.
I remember the winter of ’85. And ’84, ’83…
We had some brutal winters in Chicago around then! And I can honestly tell my kids I did walk to school in it.
Kennedy was 43 years old. Trump is 78.
This CNN footage on the weather and inauguration from January 1985 will bring back memories; the clothes! the cars! the cold! -78 windchill in Chicago!
https://youtu.be/6X2WdKijLTY?si=oCETI2ScKAYZPt3U
The inauguration was also in March pre 1948 which would greatly increase the chances of decent weather.
I immediately thought of the Pres. Harrison case, though I couldn’t remember most of the details.
I hope Trump employs and listens to a good speech writer for his address. His first inaugural address was too rough and inartful IMO.
Nobody understands the seasonality of flu, colds, and other respiratory diseases, but it’s not due to cold or people crowding inside, or anything else that people who don’t have day jobs studying infectious disease think up from the tops of their heads.
matthew49:
Did you think I was criticizing Trump for the decision? I wasn’t. I don’t think he should take needless risks.
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, among others, has been worried about security at the inauguration. After all, two attempts on Trump have already happened, and one almost succeeded. This sounds safer.
I hope Trump employs and listens to a good speech writer for his address.
==
Make it concise.
Security reasons alone I am fine with it. I should be able to watch it on TV
neo:
I did not at all think you were criticizing Trump and did not mean to suggest that. I thought I was just pointing out an important difference between the circumstances in 1961 and next Monday and I was implying that I agreed with the decision to move the proceedings indoors.
I have a picture of my best friend, my Other Brother, in full kit, including a Top Hat.
True about Kennedy, but men’s hats disappeared with him. Don’t know why.
I wear hats and caps. Have a good many of them.
matthew49:
Agreed.
Good call, IMO. Security will be easier.
I have never been so cold as while standing inspection at 38 degrees, 80% humidity, and a 20-mph wind. An hour standing in that kind of weather without heavy
overcoats, ear warmers, and boots is pretty rough.
The forecast for D.C. is for colder temps and possible snow. Standing and sitting for long periods in that weather is best done with parkas, boots, and warm hats – ala Nome, Alaska. Where’s global warming when you need it?
I seem to remember marching with the US Coast Guard contingent at Lyndon Johnson’s inauguration. It was a very cold day. In fact, the fecal matter deposited by the golden palominos that preceded us in the parade was sort of a welcome bit of warmth on the tarmac.
The Daily Caller is reporting that DC-area police departments have not been able to come to an agreement with the Metropolitan Police Dept. for sending extra officers for the inauguration. This, along with distrust of the Secret Service, may be another reason for moving the inaugural inside where security is easier.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/01/17/donald-trump-inauguration-security-metropolitan-police-department/
I like the move for security reasons. The media and the left has so demonized Trump you never know what yet another nut might attempt.
I just looked up what happened to Harrison, I had heard the pneumonia story too maybe 50 years ago. But seems like there is a much newer explanation –
The prevailing theory at the time was that his illness had been caused by the bad weather at his inauguration three weeks earlier.[126] Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak did an analysis in Clinical Infectious Diseases (2014), examining Miller’s notes and records showing that the White House water supply was downstream of public sewage, and they concluded that he likely died of septic shock due to “enteric fever”
I recall that Dan Bongino was particularly concerned with Trump walking from his car to the platform in the open.
Makes sense to me.
‘86 kid here. Public schooled. I don’t remember anything about Harrison, let alone his untimely demise.
Shirehome: “I wear hats and caps. Have a good many of them.”
It’s a lot more fun imagining what you look like when I misread that as “I wear hats and capes…” 🙂
R2L:
I initially made the exact same error. Let’s hear it for hats and capes!
Ns:
Well, I guess now you do. 🙂
It seems that men’s capes are due for a comeback one of these years. Can’t think of any men wearing them in my lifetime, other than David Crosby when he was in The Byrds.
It seems that men’s capes are due for a comeback one of these years.
==
Yeah, cuz everyone wants to look like Barnabas Collins.
@ Shirehome > “I wear hats and caps. Have a good many of them.”
AesopSpouse and I both have far too many of each.
We also have capes 😉
Comes from going to Renaissance Faires for 30 years.
I am happy it will be indoors. I fear the Left will try and assassinate him, believing Third Time’s The Charm.
As for why men quit wearing head-gear, here are three posts with the same conclusions but vastly different styles.
The NPR one is actually funny.
The Gazette has the most pictures.
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/05/04/152011840/who-killed-mens-hats-think-of-a-three-letter-word-beginning-with-i
https://americanhatmakers.org/2016/10/05/the-decline-of-the-hat-in-american-culture/
https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/men-stop-wearing-hats/
Women share the same reasons for no longer wearing hats most of the time (except the Kennedy thing), but no one seems to be specifically writing about that decline (headline choices were “men stop wearing hats” or “people stop…”), perhaps because more women than men still do wear them.
I would guess the reason for that is that there is more variety in women’s hats, so they can be run through the fashionista mill; they are still expected to wear them at posh parties and events whereas men are not (other than Ascot and Buckingham Palace, perhaps!); and because even if men do wear a nice hat, they have to take it off inside (and women don’t), so why bother?
Miss Manners has the scoop.
https://www.uexpress.com/life/miss-manners/2022/09/13
I will tell you, however, that the hat decline does NOT extend to farmers, ranchers, and cowpokes of both genders, who will wear their stetsons inside, outside, and ever’ which way they darn well please. And they generally have Sunday-go-to-meeting dress versions.
We both rotated through at least 5 cowboy hats apiece during our two summers in Wyoming, because that was our official mission “uniform” out on the trail or around visitors.
I also approve the inauguration move indoors, for both of the reasons presented.
Some pundits are noting Democrat pundits mocking Trump because he doesn’t want people to see how small the crowd would be outside.
They never give anything a rest.
If the inauguration were held outside, they would complain that he was keeping people standing around in the freezing cold; and if he were attacked again (God forbid!), that it was his own fault for being out in the open.
There is just no pleasing people who aren’t really interested in facts and solutions, just narratives and agendas.
I’m glad it will be inside, really really glad it’s Trump, and also first read caps & capes. Maybe thinking of Lynch, and vampires.
Now imagining what might bring capes back—Trump! Wearing one at his inauguration, and taking it off with a flourish, inside. But I don’t think that will happen, less than 1% chance.
I have a funky floppy warm hat to cover the tops of my ears, but not the whole ear. Most folk in Slovakia wear knitted ski caps against the cold, but I don’t like how they are tight on my head.
I’m expecting the demonization of Trump to go down, he’s not gonna run again. Instead, the Democrat Demonization Strategy will be trained on Vance & DeSantis, but also diluted by Musk. Just as the DDS against the Jews somewhat diluted it this last year against Trump.
All the Dems who feared that Trump was a threat to democracy are the kind of gullible gossipers who like believing bad things about those they oppose.
This is why Northern countries are said to be less volatile and violent and more stoic than warmer countries: some days it’s just too cold to protest.
Between Dracula, the Capeman, and Paul Simon’s unsuccessful musical about the Capeman, capes haven’t been having a good time in recent decades. About Simon’s musical: the book was written by poet and Nobelist Derek Walcott (though he pulled out of the production because of too many re-writes); the characters were Puerto Rican and the actors were all Hispanic, so post-Hamilton a revival might be successful, especially if Simon puts an accent over the “o” in his name.
AesopFan, thanks for the links about hats!
My father, Infantry, wet, cold and tired with his guys in Holland and then Belgium in the fall of 44 and then winter, did not get colds. Not until they got a replaement and then they were all hacking and snorting.
When I thought of capes I was thinking of Superman, Batman, or Zorro. Or Sherlock Holmes.
Capes for a stylish flourish might still return to fashion, but not for the prior practical reasons of severe weather protection. Modern weather gear for skiing or other winter activities has probably replaced them for cost, weight, efficiency, etc. Living in Florida, my experience with modern weather gear extends to seeing them worn by the athletes at the Winter Olympics on TV, along with news “reporters” braving their cold or windy outdoors to appear tough. Hats seem to be avoided if at all possible, until it just cannot be justified any further. Often the pullover hood is then used instead.
I’m hoping Kash Patel will compel FBI agents to disgorge what they’re hiding from Congress in re Thos. Crooks. A forced document dump at the Secret Service would also be in order.