‘Finally, Finally,’ the Republicans Get Their Day

All the anger over how he got there, all the doubt about whether he was up to the job, all the trudging through mud and past noisy demonstrators was abruptly eclipsed Saturday when George W. Bush put his hand on the Bible and said the words: “So help me God.”

He was president.

The trumpets blared and cannons thundered, stirring a flock of birds over the middle of the National Mall, where Bush was cheered by a crowd of tens of thousands of soggy but tenacious Americans stretching as far as he could see. The new president’s daughter Jenna, 19, smiled giddily as her parents embraced. The new president’s father, a former president himself but on this day a father first, blinked back tears.

“How sweet the victory,” rejoiced Madison Mauze, a 23-year-old Texas Republican, dripping under a black umbrella. “Finally, finally it’s ours.”

Still, Bush could not banish the curious circumstances that brought him to this moment. He himself conjured them in the themes of his speech, and they showed themselves in the prayers of two ministers and the placards of the protesters who doggedly made themselves heard at every event.

Out on the Mall, the sentiment of the crowd was a mix of exuberance and relief. People held up three fingers in the Dubya sign. Some hooted and many cried. Others, so far back they could see only a spot of Bush’s robin’s-egg blue tie, peered into their video cameras to better view the drama at the podium.

What they saw was a remarkable journey from partisan politics to reconciliation at a high-noon meeting of America’s leaders. Side by side, antagonists were reminded of their common cause, the continuity of the government.

Al Gore, the man who clearly would have preferred that it was his hand on the Bible, clapped heartily in his black leather gloves. Bill Clinton, from whose grip the power of the country had just been transferred, clapped too. And when Bush was first presented as the president of the United States, it was the first time in eight years, when Clinton heard those words, that they did not mean him.

In the VIP seats, the wives of three ambassadors from Eastern Europe, wrapped in plastic ponchos, were mesmerized by the history behind this uniquely American experience--that this George was uttering words first spoken by George Washington in 1789.

“The idea of a republic is a very strong part of our countries, just not so old,” said Zora Butorova of Slovakia. “Two hundred years ago we still had kingdoms.”

In his inaugural address, Bush drew from the roots of American democracy to explain how he would pull the country back together after an election that left so many people feeling unrepresented.

“This is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity,” he said.

The crowd’s most enthusiastic reaction during the speech came when Bush mentioned a tax cut, a centerpiece of his campaign.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, found in Bush’s speech a certain consistency. “That tells me he has thought for a long time about his vision for America and how to accomplish it.”

Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas) said that he thought Bush struck a “perfect tone.”

“He showed his consistency by again talking about compassion, and that should appeal to everyone,” said Sen. Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

But Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said that he thought the speech was “pretty vacuous. . . . I doubt seriously I’m going to remember anything in it in a few days.”

Though sometimes an uneven communicator, Bush’s delivery was straightforward Saturday. Some said it helped that he caught a break in the weather, which lightened from a drizzle to a mist, allowing many people to pull down their rain hoods so they could listen more closely.

But by the end of the ceremony the rain started up again and three of the five young sons of Rep. Charles W. “Chip” Pickering (R-Miss.) could barely extract their penny loafers from the mud.

“I went through hell to get here. I had to walk. I had to wait in line. I got pushed around. They let too many people in and I only got within 150 feet,” said J.D. Camden, a Chicago computer consultant, who held his pin-striped pants up around his calves as he left. “But it was worth it,” he added. “It was history.”

After the swearing-in, Bush and his wife, Laura, attended a luncheon with selected members of Congress and other dignitaries in Statuary Hall, an ornate chamber on the House side of the Capitol. Classical music played in the background as the group lunched on lobster pie, filet with garden vegetables, and carrot pudding cake with vanilla ice cream.

The meal was followed by a toast featuring some chummy jocularity. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, head of the inaugural committee, gave Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney engraved crystal bowls that he said were very heavy. “That’s nearly as hefty as some of the appropriations bills we’ll be sending your way soon,” McConnell said.

Just before the lunch, Bush escorted Clinton out of the Capitol to his limousine and the newly former president spent the rest of the afternoon leaving the city. In true Clinton style, he took his time.

A crowd of supporters waited to cheer him at Andrews Air Force Base as he got on a presidential plane for the last time. In a reminder of what a large figure he is likely to remain on the political scene, Clinton said: “I see a sign that says ‘please don’t go.’ . . . Well, I’m not in the White House but I’m still here.”

The goodbyes went on for more than an hour. Finally, he headed to his home in New York, accompanied by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and his daughter, Chelsea.

The Bushes went to the inaugural parade and stayed until dark.

It was hard to miss the protesters along the two-mile parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. There was a mix of cheering and jeering, but it did not seem to spoil Bush’s time. The president and the first lady stayed in their limousine for most of the route and then walked a short way, smiling and waving and punching the air as the bands and floats passed by. Bush seemed more like a candidate than a president--or perhaps he was just finally enjoying the victory celebration that had eluded him.

In the reviewing stand at the White House, the Bush dynasty was in evidence: from the president’s brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, to his famously white-haired mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush.

It was an emotional day for the returning first family.

Earlier, at the lunch, a Democratic senator’s wife approached the elder Bush and guessed that “he was more proud today than the day of his own inauguration.”

Bush and his wife “heartily agreed.”

Indeed, Bush said that he had considered asking his doctor for medicine to prevent tears from flowing during his son’s inauguration, but his wife talked him out of it.

“We Bushes,” he explained, “cry when we’re happy and when we’re sad.”

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Times staff writers Janet Hook and Alissa J. Rubin contributed to this story.