January 20, 1969
The inauguration of President Hubert Humphrey
On a cold day in Washington, D.C., a new President was inaugurated into office. The inauguration of Hubert Humphrey as the 37th President of the United States was accompanied by the usual fanfare. Many thousands of Humphrey’s supporters (and a few protesters) lined the streets of Washington, D.C. to catch a glimpse of the President-elect’s motorcade as it made its way to the Capitol. [1]
But today’s inauguration ceremonies were not without sorrow. Humphrey, now visibly emaciated with thinning hair, waved at the crowd as he was pushed along in a wheelchair by his wife, Muriel. Chief Justice Earl Warren administered the oath of office. Mustering all his strength, President Humphrey stood up, raised his arm and said swore the oath of allegiance.
Despite his physical weakness, Mr. Humphrey gave a 45-minute speech (unusually short for Humphrey). Humphrey began by thanking his supporters for their prayers, calling it a “healing balm”. [2] Always optimistic, Humphrey disputed his grave prognosis. "I'm not going to quit as fast as they think I will. I'm Hubert Humphrey, and all those damn statistics don't mean anything when it comes to me." [3]
In his concluding remarks, Humphrey called for courage: “Too many people in politics today are afraid. They're afraid, they say, oh they won't go for this. Well I knew they wouldn't go for civil rights in 1948. I knew they wouldn't go for Medicare in 1949. I knew that they wouldn't go for the Peace Corps in 19-hundred-and-58, and I knew they wouldn't go, if you please, for the Arms Control Disarmament Agency in 1959. But ultimately they did! If you're going to be a man in politics, you have to be like a soldier on the battlefield. You know there are risks. There's no guarantee of your life, but as somebody once said, I'd rather live fifty years like a tiger than a hundred years like a chicken.” [4]