Clinton Enters Capital in Triumphal Caravan

Promising change and calling for national unity, President-elect Bill Clinton swept into Washington on Sunday, leading a triumphal procession at the beginning of a five-day inaugural celebration rich in political symbolism and abundant entertainment.

Clinton, greeted by a Washington throng of 300,000 after a horn-tooting bus tour from the Thomas Jefferson home near Charlottesville, Va., sounded his themes throughout the day.

“Let us build an American home for the 21st Century where everyone has a place at the table and not a single child is left behind,” he told a throng assembled at the memorial to Civil War President Abraham Lincoln.

The mild winter’s day had the feel of yet another successful campaign swing. But it was partly overshadowed by the U.S. bombing of Iraq at a moment when Clinton and his aides had hoped to dominate public attention with the message of their new Administration.

Clinton’s day began at Monticello, Jefferson’s hilltop home, where he toured the premises and led an open-air talk-show-style discussion with school children about the philosophy of the nation’s third President.

“I want to be faithful to Jefferson’s idea that about once in a generation you have to shake things up and face your problems,” Clinton told the hundreds gathered in front of the elegant estate.

Leading a caravan of 25 vehicles, the President-elect and Vice President-elect Al Gore roughly retraced the route that Jefferson took to his 1801 inaugural. He arrived in Washington at 2:45 p.m. to attend a concert and deliver remarks at the Lincoln Memorial, then crossed the Potomac River on Memorial Bridge to lead a bell-ringing ceremony at the Lady Bird Johnson Circle near Arlington Cemetery. The made-for-television theatrics ended with a spectacular fireworks display launched from a barge on the Potomac.

In his hour-long morning visit to Monticello and in remarks during the bus journey, Clinton assured citizens that the country’s ailments can be cured if Americans are willing to risk change.

Asked by one of the eight school children what he thought were Jefferson’s greatest accomplishments, Clinton cited the attitude of the author of the Declaration of Independence that “people could solve problems and do better. He believed that things could be better--that’s what our campaign was all about.”

The Clinton team planned the trip to Monticello to celebrate a President who was both a leading philosopher of democracy and the father of the Democratic Party, which Clinton now heads. Clinton said the bus trip was intended to demonstrate again his intention of staying in touch with average Americans.

The trip, he said, was “a way of saying to Americans: ‘We want you to be in control. We don’t want to be out of touch with you.’ ”

Clinton, Gore and their wives, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore, were given a tour of Jefferson’s home by Dan Jurden, Monticello’s executive director. Jefferson “was a man of hope--a man who believed in change,” Jurden told the group.

During the discussion that followed outside the home, one child asked Clinton how he would use Jefferson if he had been alive today. Clinton first said that he would suggest to Gore that the two of them resign in favor of Jefferson. A moment later, Clinton amended that to say he would have asked Jefferson to be his secretary of education.

Another child asked Clinton if Jefferson had wanted to be President from the time he was young. “If he had, he would have been criticized for it,” quipped Clinton, who has been criticized for just such ambitions.

Clinton’s bus tour began at Monticello shortly after 9:30 a.m., stopped at the Culpeper, Va., Baptist Church for an hour-long service, then made brief stops in Warrenton and Gainesville, Va., before reaching Washington. Thousands lined U.S. 29 and Interstate 66 to wave as the party cruised along the eastern edge of the Virginia piedmont toward the nation’s capital.

To the crowd in Warrenton he pledged: “We know why you put us in the White House and we’ll never forget you.”

The caravan included 15 buses, a dozen Secret Service vehicles, six vans with television camera crews and two lead vans assigned to shoo crowds from the road. The leading bus, carrying Clinton and Gore and their families, bore license plate “Hope 1.”

Since the caravan could not stop for every crowd, the first bus was equipped with a loudspeaker. Clinton and Gore stood in the front of the bus, saying “hello” and “thank you” and other messages over the loudspeaker as they passed through the countryside.

The bus caravan brought out dozens of signs, most--but not all of them--congratulatory. Among them were “Bubbas for Bill” and “Drove from Tennessee to Shake Your Hand.”

A less-flattering placard, referring to the background of Clinton’s Cabinet members, said: “13 Lawyers: New Faces of America?” Others on the roadside urged Clinton to ban abortion, free political extremist Lyndon A. LaRouche Jr., follow the Scriptures, legalize marijuana and observe human rights for Haitians.

Clinton’s early arrival in Washington surprised some observers, since the President-elect has often arrived late for appointments. Because he needed to be in Washington for the 6 p.m. bell-ringing ceremony, the fear that he would not be punctual had caused “something of a state of anxiety” for the Clinton staff, said one aide.

Meanwhile, thousands of people converged on the Washington Mall for the “America’s Reunion” activities, a free all-day festival of entertainment. They clearly enjoyed a day with temperatures in the upper 40s. Bright sunshine sparkled off the surface of the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

People showed up early, bringing lawn chairs and blankets. They carried cameras and signs--”Good Luck for a Saxcessful Presidency,” read one, with a photo of Clinton playing the saxophone. They also wore inaugural buttons and T-shirts, and many clutched commemorative programs and souvenir tickets.

As the afternoon progressed, the crowds began massing closer to the Lincoln Memorial for a concert led by musician Quincy Jones and the chance to catch a glimpse of Clinton as he led a procession across Memorial Bridge to ring a replica of the Liberty Bell during the nationwide bell-ringing ceremony.

Many of the visitors said that they were drawn to the Mall because they wanted to be a part of this inauguration--even if only for this one event.

“I come every four years because I really believe in turning out,” said Joyce Romanus, a tax preparer from Silver Spring, Md., who brought her two daughters, 7 and 3. “Also, I want my children to come, even if they can’t remember. I want to be able to tell them they were there.”

Steve and Marianne Hill, lawyers from Kansas City, Mo., came because he worked as a volunteer on Clinton’s Missouri campaign. The Hills have inaugural ball and swearing-in tickets but decided that they couldn’t miss the Mall events either.

“For those of us who worked in the campaign, you really need something like this to make it seem real,” Hill said.

Lorraine Rivera of Minneapolis described herself as an early Clinton supporter who contributed money to his campaign. She called it “a great opportunity as an American Indian woman to be here to see this. I supported him before he started snowballing. I think he’s listening to certain groups of people and I think he--more than any other President--understands the diversity of the nation. I’ve got a feeling of hope.”

Hope seemed to be a recurring theme. Kenn Spann, a social work professor from the University of the District of Columbia, said that he had seen many inaugurations “but people seem to be more involved in this one. People today feel a lot more hope. That’s what it is.”

Many of the visitors said they were barely aware of the military events in Iraq--having been away from home most of the day. But Romanus said, “I turned on the TV to see where Clinton was and it really took the wind out of my sails to see those night scenes of Baghdad.”

Dozens of musical groups performed in one of five heated tents on the Mall. Outside the tent where the Little Feat rock group was playing, people were dancing to the music as the sounds carried for great distances on powerful speakers.

Food lines were a mob scene, requiring a 20- to 30-minute wait. Fragrant odors of hot tamales, spicy jambalaya and barbecue filled the air.

Hawkers were doing a big business selling T-shirts. A group of young people lofted a huge sign reading: “We’re in Democratic heaven.”

After dark, with the Lincoln Memorial glowing like alabaster against the cool blue sky, the Clintons and Gores began walking across Memorial Bridge toward a replica of the Liberty Bell. As they walked, the Boys Choir of Harlem waited at the other end, singing: “ . . . didn’t you know that you’re my hero . . . “

Looking at a huge video screen behind the bell, Clinton appeared delighted to hear greetings from the space shuttle Endeavour. “I always wanted to bring the country together--I never thought we could bring the nation and the heavens together,” he said.

The video screen unfolded scene after scene of waiting bell ringers, including one from what actor and host Edward James Olmos described as “my beloved South Central Los Angeles.” Other scenes ranged from Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., where the Clintons worship, to Atlanta, where bell-ringers stood near Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After a countdown reminiscent of Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the Clinton and Gore families at the stroke of 6 p.m. local time grasped a braided red cotton rope attached to the bell’s clapper. As they yanked, native Americans in the crowd rang cow bells and, on the video screen, images washed from city to city of bells being rung across the nation.

The music soon switched to “Dancing in the Streets” and Tipper Gore, renowned for her opposition to explicit rock and roll lyrics, danced back and forth by herself for a time before finally putting an arm around her normally reserved husband and pulling him to sway with the beat.

Several hundred members of the National Congress of American Indians were invited to the bell-ringing, among them Rosemary Cambra, chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe from the San Francisco Bay Area. She waited nearly two hours for Clinton, flipping her long gray braids, clasped with traditional abalone shells.

“I hope we’ll see a little bit of (John F.) Kennedy in him (Clinton) and a little bit of (Jimmy) Carter and a little bit of Clinton . . . to bring equity among the races. This is the test,” she said, pointing at the members of dozens of native American tribes: “If he can reckon with the problems of these people here.”

As she spoke, the video screen above her was showing the “I have a dream” speech that King gave at the Lincoln Memorial, climaxing the March on Washington three decades ago.

Times staff writers Paul Houston, Marlene Cimons, Patt Morrison, Elizabeth Shogren and William J. Eaton contributed to this story.

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