Donald Trump's presidency is ending a lot like Andrew Johnson's
By Kevin Walling, opinion contributor — 01/09/21 10:30 AM EST
When Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated the 18th President of the United States on March 4, 1869, his immediate predecessor refused to attend any ceremonies for the new president and his incoming administration. The animosity between the two men had reached a boiling point, despite Grant having served in Andrew Johnson’s cabinet as the U.S. Secretary of War. The outgoing president opted to host a final Cabinet meeting during Grant’s inauguration and then rode out of town, rather unceremoniously.
Nearly a century and a half later, we face similar regional, political and cultural divisions. With President Trump’s announcement Friday that he will forgo attending President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing in on Jan. 20th, he becomes the first living president since Johnson not to attend his successor’s inauguration. Speculation is mounting that Trump will likely host some kind of counter-inaugural event during Biden’s swearing in, similar to Johnson’s White House Cabinet meeting. Unfortunately for Johnson, the advent of network television was still many decades away, saving news executives from making difficult decisions on coverage and robbing the outgoing leader of his final insult towards the new administration.
Grant’s inauguration was the first set in front of the recently completed Capitol Dome finished in January 1866. Even during the height of the Civil War, with the Confederate capital less than 100 miles away in Richmond, Va., no Southern soldier was able to breach the capitol and display the “Stars and Bars†of the Flag of the Confederacy. That 150-year record ended Wednesday when insurrectionists backing Trump’s ill-fated pleas to remain in office ransacked the U.S. Capitol Building.
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https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/533470-donald-trumps-presidency-is-ending-just-like-andrew-johnsons
