Greetings, fellow travelers, and welcome to the third posting of volume four of the Blog. At the end of last week's posting, I mentioned that this week, we would discuss the process of inaugurating a president. I will do that. However, I will also mention some other things. It may be of interest to everyone or no one. As long as I say them, I enjoy it. Now, to start, how to inaugurate a president.
This year was unusual in inauguration circles as the oath was administered twice. It was also administered twice last time, but only because the Chief Justice picked the wrong moment to flub the oath. This required it being taken again to avoid arguments from still-sore-from-losing Republicans. This time, it was different. The Constitution (specifically the 20th Amendment) requires that a president's term of office to be begin on the 20th of January. This year, that day fell on a Sunday and traditionally, government doesn't run that day out of religious concerns.
This created a historical note of interest a long time ago. In 1849, Zachary Taylor was due to become the nation's 12th president on March 4th. However, that day also fell on a Sunday. Taylor, a fellow of deep religious convictions, refused to swore in on the Sabbath. His vice president, Millard Fillmore, was also not swore in because in those days, that office meant nothing to no one. According to legend, the situation left the next-highest man on the totem pole in the position of being president until Taylor could be swore in on Monday.
That man was David Rice Atchison. Atchison was a soldier and senator. At the time, he was serving as president pro tempore of the Senate. To explain his job, he leads the Senate when its real leader, the vice president, is not around. Anyway, Atchison was in the position of being president from the 24 hours following noon on Sunday, March 4th, when James Polk's term in office ended, to noon the following day. The story goes that Atchison assembled some friends for a brief cabinet meeting and then retired for the day. In essence, he slept through most of his presidency.
Atchison later went on to have a town in Kansas named for him. In turn, a railroad was named for the town, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe. That railroad is now the BNSF, one of the four largest freight carriers in the country. Most historians state that Atchison was not, in effect, in charge of the nation for a day. In fact, his job was over at the same time as Polk. That doesn't ruin some people who believe that for one day, David Rice Atchison was the real 12th President of the United States. That would make President Obama president number forty five, not forty four.
Regardless of who was president, the swearing-in of one is a big event. Even thought this time around, it's a repeat of the same guy, the ability of changing a leader was important to the Founding Fathers. They had to design this system. Back in those days, the biggest leader was a king. A king, once put on the throne, stayed there until he died of old age or other things. Not wishing to replace one monarch with another, they came up with the office of the Presidency. So, with that in mind, the very first swearing-in was super big to a nation only a decade old.
George Washington was our first president, so it stands he was the first to sworn in. That first swearing-in took place at Federal Hall in New York City. At the time, New York was the capital of the country. Sometimes it still feels like that's still true. Anyway, for that first swearing-in, Washington had a Bible fetched from a local Masonry Temple. It was quickly opened up to the Book of Genesis and the highest legal authority in New York, Robert Livingston, administered the oath of office for the very first time. Washington, however, ad-libbed the last four words, "So help me God" and that's been part of the oath ever since then.
Moving on from the inauguration, we move to matters of the literary circles. In Britian this week, they had their first Orwell Day. Orwell Day lands of the date of passing for literary visionary George Orwell (which is January 21st). The purpose of the day is to celebrate Orwell's works and his wisdom. This is coupled with a month-long celebration on the BBC's Radio 4. The channel plans to air new radio plays based on his works, including the two standing favorites, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Those two books have become literary standards of the world.
Now, I have not read the latter one. I don't like the unhappy ending. Call me an uncouth American, but I like my stories to have happy endings. I have read the former, because it was one of the books I studied in middle school. I was aware of the fame of the book when we were first given it. As I read it, we were required to note the political and social issues given within. I'm sure Orwell himself would have enjoyed our learning, for he was one to let his work speak for themselves. Those issues have withstood the test of time and continue to be proven over and over again.
George Orwell was, in fact, a non de plume. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He adopted the name when he began publishing his work. He didn't wish to embarass his family with his leanings, so a friend sent him names to publish under. He kept his real name for other work, such as working for the BBC in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his first popular works was based on his experiences of reporting the Spanish Civil War. It was at that time that Orwell was exposed to the ideals of communism and socialism. While he believed in communism a bit, he didn't like those who used it for their own end.
This is one of the subjects expressed in Animal Farm, that the animals start a communist-like society with good intentions. However, the pigs, as the leaders, soon begin to distort the ideals of their revolution to suit their own ends, even to the point of re-writing the basic laws of the society. They take advantage of the animals' lack of knowledge by telling them one thing and then doing another. The basis for the farm's society, the Soviet Union, also began as a revolution of the working class. However, the Soviet leadership eventually became despotic and ruining the people they were supposed to serve.
As this week's posting draws now to a close, we make note of the ever-changing world we live in. When I was a kid, the world was a different place. Of course, we all say that. However, the way change happens, the world was a different place two years ago. All the change in the world that has happened since the Blog started. We've seen dicators fall, governments change hands, fiscals cliffs, debt ceilings, and a close election. With this Blog, I hope to keep an eye on that change, while offering other things as well. In conclusion, volume four of the Blog is the seed of volume five.
Join me next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell,
Your fellow traveler...
Moving on from the inauguration, we move to matters of the literary circles. In Britian this week, they had their first Orwell Day. Orwell Day lands of the date of passing for literary visionary George Orwell (which is January 21st). The purpose of the day is to celebrate Orwell's works and his wisdom. This is coupled with a month-long celebration on the BBC's Radio 4. The channel plans to air new radio plays based on his works, including the two standing favorites, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Those two books have become literary standards of the world.
Now, I have not read the latter one. I don't like the unhappy ending. Call me an uncouth American, but I like my stories to have happy endings. I have read the former, because it was one of the books I studied in middle school. I was aware of the fame of the book when we were first given it. As I read it, we were required to note the political and social issues given within. I'm sure Orwell himself would have enjoyed our learning, for he was one to let his work speak for themselves. Those issues have withstood the test of time and continue to be proven over and over again.
George Orwell was, in fact, a non de plume. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He adopted the name when he began publishing his work. He didn't wish to embarass his family with his leanings, so a friend sent him names to publish under. He kept his real name for other work, such as working for the BBC in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his first popular works was based on his experiences of reporting the Spanish Civil War. It was at that time that Orwell was exposed to the ideals of communism and socialism. While he believed in communism a bit, he didn't like those who used it for their own end.
This is one of the subjects expressed in Animal Farm, that the animals start a communist-like society with good intentions. However, the pigs, as the leaders, soon begin to distort the ideals of their revolution to suit their own ends, even to the point of re-writing the basic laws of the society. They take advantage of the animals' lack of knowledge by telling them one thing and then doing another. The basis for the farm's society, the Soviet Union, also began as a revolution of the working class. However, the Soviet leadership eventually became despotic and ruining the people they were supposed to serve.
As this week's posting draws now to a close, we make note of the ever-changing world we live in. When I was a kid, the world was a different place. Of course, we all say that. However, the way change happens, the world was a different place two years ago. All the change in the world that has happened since the Blog started. We've seen dicators fall, governments change hands, fiscals cliffs, debt ceilings, and a close election. With this Blog, I hope to keep an eye on that change, while offering other things as well. In conclusion, volume four of the Blog is the seed of volume five.
Join me next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell,
Your fellow traveler...
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