Pretty much in the title, but I recall there being plans for some individuals to hit the Inauguration with a dirty bomb attack that was thankfully foiled. But what if it had managed to go off without a hitch at the bomb had exploded? There's numerous points to be taken, whether the bomb going off on time or it activating early, leading to Obama potentially surviving the attack.
I've never been able to get a full list of all the current Congressman and Senators who were there, but here's something from Wiki that details the guests. Any thoughts on the immediate impact this would have, as well as long term?
I've never been able to get a full list of all the current Congressman and Senators who were there, but here's something from Wiki that details the guests. Any thoughts on the immediate impact this would have, as well as long term?
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and former Vice Presidents Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Dick Cheney, along with their respective wives, attended the inauguration, including Hillary Clinton, who had been Obama's main opponent in the Democratic primaries (Clinton was attending as a former First Lady, not as the losing candidate.[174][175]) Cheney was in a wheelchair because of an injury that he suffered while moving boxes.[175][176]
Congressman John Lewis, the only living speaker from the historic 1963 rally at the March on Washington, was present on the stage during the inauguration.[177] More than 180 of the Tuskegee Airmen attended as invited guests for the inauguration.[178][179] The five-person crew of US Airways Flight 1549 attended the swearing-in ceremony, including Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who landed the aircraft in the Hudson River near Manhattan after losing both engines due to a bird strike just after departing LaGuardia Airport.[180]
Eighty-seven-year-old Sarah Obama led a group of Obama's Kenyan relatives from his father's home village of Kogelo.[181] Other relatives who traveled from Kenya as guests included Obama's aunt, Maggie Obama, his uncle, Sayid Obama, as well as his half-brother Malik Obama.[181][182] Also, Kenya youth activist and Chair of the Martin Luther King, Jr Africa Foundation, Mwangi Mukami, attended the Inaugural events.[183] Mwangi Mukami had served as Chair of the Obama Worldwide Supporters Campaign though it was unrelated to the official campaign. Joe Biden's son, Beau, Attorney General for the state of Delaware and an officer and Judge Advocate in the Delaware Army National Guard, received a special furlough from serving in Iraq to participate in the ceremonies.[184]
Celebrity guests included the actors Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, singer Beyoncé Knowles, director Steven Spielberg, boxer Muhammad Ali, and golfer Tiger Woods.[174][185]