His Inaugural Book’s a Timely One

When Jim Bendat told friends he was writing a book about presidential inaugurations, their reactions ranged from casual interest to disbelief that someone could be fascinated by such an arcane topic.

But with all the political and legal wrangling during the protracted 2000 presidential campaign, Bendat’s quirky book, “Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President,” has caught on with readers.

Since its debut in September, the slim volume has risen from No. 2,000,000 to No. 48,039 on the Amazon.com sales chart. While not exactly in the same league as bestselling authors Stephen King or Danielle Steele, Bendat said he’s amazed by the book’s upward movement in just a few months.

“Some people thought I was nuts to write a book about something as esoteric as presidential inaugurations,” said Bendat, a Los Angeles County public defender assigned to the Van Nuys courthouse.

“But now with all that’s [gone] on, people probably will pay more attention to the ceremony, and the history behind it,” he said.

An admitted political junkie, the book grew out of Bendat’s penchant for presidential inauguration programs. He had published articles about inaugurals previously, but yearned to write more.

“As I started to read the programs, I learned more and more about the inaugurations,” he said. “I thought, ‘No one knows this stuff. This would make a great book.’ ”

Bendat’s first book is a compilation of vignettes and anecdotes from every presidential inauguration since George Washington’s swearing-in ceremony on April 30, 1789, in New York City.

With wit and wisdom, Bendat, 52, of West Los Angeles, discusses all aspects of Inauguration Day--from the president-elect’s morning coffee at the White House with the president, to the afternoon parade, to the evening inaugural galas--all with an eye toward the historical and hysterical.

“This is one of those splendid discoveries,” said Steven Lubet, a law professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., who has read the book. “Every time you turn the page, you learn something cool.”

Although the 2001 presidential inauguration may appear unconventional, Lubet said Bendat’s book reveals numerous extraordinary events in America’s political history.

“It seems as though we are looking at an unprecedented inaugural situation this year,” Lubet said, “but every time we change presidents, there is always an interesting subtext.”

Another person who has read the book, Bendat’s friend Michael M. Duffey, commissioner of Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys, said he was intrigued by the transfer of power, especially when the change in leadership was controversial.

“I don’t expect any problems with the transfer of power,” he said, “but with all the election controversy, the inauguration is in the high-interest category.”

Grass-Roots Marketing

Last spring, Bendat began shopping his manuscript to agents and publishers--and collected several eloquent rejection letters in the process. Undeterred, he self-published the book in September through iUniverse.com Inc. of Lincoln, Neb.

Not having the luxury of a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, Bendat offered his book through online booksellers Amazon.com, Borders and Barnes & Noble hoping it would catch on.

It did.

MSNBC cable news discovered the book online and asked Bendat to be a commentator for its televised inaugural coverage today. BBC radio called for an interview. And he has held a book-signing at Dutton’s bookstore in Brentwood, where 13 of the 15 books sold moved off the shelf this month alone. He expects royalties to begin rolling in next month.

Today’s presidential inauguration--coming on the heels of a disputed election between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore--itself could be full of historical fodder, Bendat said.

In winning the White House, President-elect Bush became the second president since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 to lose the popular vote but win the White House with a one-vote lead in the electoral college.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day that we would be comparing this election to that of Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, but it’s happening,” Bendat said.

A Smooth Transition?

In his book, Bendat writes about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that went on before Hayes’ official inauguration.

Outgoing President Ulysses S. Grant invited Hayes to the White House for dinner two days before Inauguration Day and arranged for Hayes to be sworn into office, thereby making Hayes the only person ever to be sworn in prior to the official Inauguration Day, Bendat wrote.

Today, the nation will also be watching for any lingering bitterness between Bush and the outgoing Clinton administration.

“Most of the incoming and outgoing presidents get along, but it is very possible that there could be friction,” Bendat said.

For example, John Adams didn’t appear to be a good loser when in 1801 he refused to attend rival Thomas Jefferson’s inaugural because he considered Jefferson a radical.

In 1933, President Herbert Hoover refused to speak to President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt during the car ride from the White House to the Capitol.

There has even been stony silence between the First Ladies, who traditionally ride in the same car to the inaugural ceremony. Nancy Reagan recalled that Rosalynn Carter said nary a word on the short ride from the White House to the Capitol in 1981, Bendat wrote.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush will exchange pleasantries, Bendat believes, “but I’m sure the conversation would be more animated if she were riding with Tipper [Gore].”

Hail to the Chief

Inaugural planners are prepared for protests along the parade route, given the contested outcome of this presidential election.

If demonstrations occur, Bush would become the first president since Richard M. Nixon to have his inaugural parade interrupted by protesters, Bendat said.

Nixon’s inaugural parades were marred by anti-Vietnam War demonstrators who tossed debris at his limousine as it motored along Pennsylvania Avenue in 1969 and 1973.

Bush’s four-day inaugural celebration that culminates today will include scores of events--official and unofficial, public and private--to celebrate his arrival in the nation’s capital.

Will he inspire the nation in his inaugural address as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy did? He will follow his father, George H. W. Bush, and use the same Bible that George Washington placed his hand upon when he took the oath of office in 1789.

“A lot of inaugurations have been run of the mill,” Bendat said. “Of course the winning party is excited and their supporters are excited, but I don’t think this is going to be the kind of overwhelming national celebration that would come with a mandate or landslide election.”

Even so, today’s inauguration will yield another bit of trivia: Barbara Bush will become the first woman ever to see both her husband and son take the oath of office.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

“I do solemnly swear . . . “

Vignettes from historic presidential inaugurations:

* George Washington, April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall, New York City. United States’ first presidential inauguration.

* John Adams, March 4, 1797, in the House of Representatives, Philadelphia. First president sworn in by the chief justice.

* Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801, in the U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. First informal parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

* John Quincy Adams, March 4, 1825, in the House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. First president to wear long pants at his inauguration.

* William Henry Harrison, March 4, 1841, at East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. Oldest president, longest speech, caught pneumonia and died a month later.

* Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865, at White House, Washington, D.C. First time in history that a U.S. president greeted a free black man inside the White House. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass was welcomed at a public reception on the night of Lincoln’s second inauguration.

* Calvin Coolidge, Aug. 3, 1923, at home of Coolidge’s father in Plymouth Notch, Vt. Oath administered by president’s father Col. John Coolidge, a local notary public and justice of the peace.

* Harry S. Truman, Jan. 20, 1949, at East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. First inauguration to be televised.

* Lyndon B. Johnson, Nov. 22, 1963, aboard Air Force One in Dallas. Oath administered by U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes, the only woman to ever swear in a president.

* Ronald Reagan, Jan. 21, 1985, inside Capitol Rotunda, Washington, D.C. Coldest weather ever for an inauguration (9 degrees with a windchill factor of minus 22 degrees); proceedings for Reagan’s second inauguration moved indoors.

* Bill Clinton, Jan. 20, 1997, at West Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. First inauguration to be seen live over the Internet; greatest number of galas--14--for Clinton’s second inauguration.

Source: “Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President” by Jim Bendat.