The Inauguration of Barack Obama: A Personal Lesson for Me

By Henry Doss

For me, Washington, D. C. is always a place of awe and magic and possibility. A glimpse of the Washington Monument sets off an inexplicable sense of pride, and wonder, and history. Driving across the Key Bridge heading into Georgetown always gives me a sense of vitality and energy and "something happening." I can stand on Pennsylvania Avenue and look at our Capital and - for the thousandth time - feel a sense of majesty. This has always been true for me.

So when my wife suggested that we plan to attend the Inaugural, I had little reason to argue. After all, "it's the 'right' thing to do," she told me.

So, with no tickets, little planning, and no real destination (just a friend's gracious invitation to stay at their home in town) we headed out of Ashe County, and made our personal pilgrimage to the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

As it turns out, there were record-breaking crowds for three days; the ground was frozen and the air was cold; there were long, interminable lines; the traffic was terrible. Did I mention that it was cold?

And, it was a moment in time that I will never forget.

I've talked with dozens of people about my experience and theirs: how moving it was'; how historical the moment was; how there were so many happy, energized people in one place. All true. Being there in the capital of our nation to see Barack Obama inaugurated was being a personal witness to a once-in-a-century historical event.

But at the heart of the whole experience for me was something that has only dawned on me in reflective moments since coming home.

As I've thought about what Obama's presidency can mean, it has come to me that his presidency - his message, and his example, and the manner in which he conducts the country's business - is a call to me as an individual to "be better." I know it sounds corny, or maybe even naïve, but as I listened to his inaugural speech, and have since watched him interact with his opposition, it seems clear to me that he is saying something like this:

"We need to genuinely put aside partisanship and personal animosity. We need to authentically respect opposing points of view, and treat everyone with dignity and respect. My election does not mean the end of disagreement, or battles over policy, or the sudden unification of an entire country under one set of beliefs. But what it does mean is that we will conduct ourselves in such a way as to optimize the chances for good outcome. We will find those areas where we share common beliefs, and we will resolve our differences as becomes a thoughtful, responsible people."

So, for me, the presidential inauguration was not only a historic event that I got to witness first-hand, it was a reminder to me personally to examine my own conduct in the difficult world of politics. Respect. Cordiality. Reason. Facts. I think this is the "lesson" of Obama's inauguration for me.