If you can’t attend a party in the proper spirit, don’t go. — Etiquetteer
“Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once.” — Lady Macbeth
Since childhood Etiquetteer has been fascinated by the stories of the Presidents of the United States, the First Ladies, and especially the White House. That’s no surprise, considering how often Etiquetteer quotes White House memoirists! So the Biden inauguration tomorrow, and the behavior of President and Mrs. Trump, is no small source of Perfectly Proper Interest. Though obviously everything happening is Not Perfectly Proper*.
Donald Trump may be only the first President to be impeached twice**, but he is the fourth to bypass the inauguration of his successor. John Adams, heartily ready to get out of town, was on the public stage coach heading back to Massachusetts hours before noon, when Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office. John Quincy Adams, after what might be the nastiest Presidential campaign ever, didn’t get invited to the inauguration by Andrew Jackson. (Etiquetteer really thinks that was more from confusion about protocol on both sides rather than malice.) At any rate, JQA of his own volition moved from the White House the day before so that Jackson could receive his supporters in the White House afterward, which was a Perfectly Proper thing to do. The resulting melée, however, resulted in the trashing of the White House by a mad crush of partygoers — which said a lot about the incoming administration. President Jackson had to leave by a window . . . but at least it wasn’t defenestration.
That leaves our first impeached President, Andrew Johnson, who chose not to attend U.S. Grant’s inauguration and spent the morning signing legislation before returning to Tennessee. Grant was the rising star, Johnson an impeached embarrassment, and they just didn’t like each other anyway.
Not all Presidents favored their successors; that didn’t keep them from doing the Perfectly Proper thing and attending the inauguration. Even Dwight D. Eisenhower, who hated Harry Truman, made things difficult — and about something as petty as a hat. Truman, a known dandy who began life as a haberdasher, would have preferred a high silk top hat; in fact the limousine they were riding in was specially built to accommodate top hats. But Eisenhower wore a Homburg instead, forcing the President (it seems) to change hats on short notice.
Even more of a slight, when the Eisenhowers pulled up to the North Portico to collect the President, they wouldn’t even go into the White House for cup of coffee. J.B. West described both men as “grim-faced” and expressed relief that he wasn’t in the car with them.
More to the point, Al Gore attended the inauguration of his victor George W. Bush, after the only legitimately contested election in this century. And as the outgoing Vice President, he also had to certify his victor’s election in the Senate as demanded by the Constitution, at the same ceremony interrupted January 6 by violent insurrection. As the New York Times said at the time, “He performed these duties with grace, gentle humor and complete silence about his thoughts and feelings.”
In other words, he behaved like a gentleman.
Donald Trump finds himself in a similar position to that of Al Gore: a candidate who felt the need to contest the results of a presidential election. But Mr. Gore accepted defeat graciously and without a public temper tantrum. Whereas President Trump has mounted a series of laughably frivolous lawsuits, denied that he lost when he quite obviously had, and finally, unthinkably, incited a rabble of his followers to storm the U.S. Capitol to prevent certifying the election. He has refused to concede, has never called Biden with the traditional congratulations or invited him to the Oval Office — remember how gracious Barack Obama was, welcoming the Father of Birtherism into the Oval Office after Trump’s election — and now has made it clear that he won’t be at the inauguration.
On the distaff side, First Lady Melania Trump has declined to invite Dr. Jill Biden for the usual pre-inaugural visit to the White House, which says more about her than it does about the tradition. Not that those visits were universally without tension, either. Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower were old friends; their cordiality endured despite their husbands being at loggerheads. Mamie was no fan of Jackie Kennedy’s, however, and was at her most regally icy when she came — but Mamie still invited her.
Traditions are more than symbols; they also test our worthiness. Once again, Donald Trump has failed the test; he has not met the moment. He has been accused of many things, but never of being a gentleman. And that reputation is now firmly in place (if it wasn’t already).
*You’ll be interested in these anecdotes about White House transitions from the White House Historical Association.
**Let’s hope there isn’t another!