We’re All Here Together: Black, White, Red, Yellow & Brown
A former B-movie actor by the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, was sworn in publicly as President of the United States, for the second time, on January 21, 1985. The actual ceremony was moved inside to the US Capitol Rotunda because of the extremely cold temperatures in Washington, DC, on that day.
The thermometer was predicted to dip to -4 degrees. The usual inaugural parade down Constitution Avenue was cancelled, as well, because of the anticipated cold.
Despite the arctic air, could that frigid day, forty-one years ago, somehow stand as the zenith of the Republican Party in the United States of America?
The Gipper went on to become one of the most revered figures in GOP politics. A man known for neither his intellect or for any great accomplishments in office, Ronald W. Reagan somehow remains a treasured and beloved cultural icon in conservative politics.
Reagan’s calm confident manner and reassuring, if overly smug smile, was exactly what the GOP of that day, needed in the White House. Long gone was the gloom of the Jimmy Carter presidency. Not only was Reagan’s name subsequently added to the second largest federal office building in Washington DC [a construction product] becoming known as the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.
The address officially is 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The nearby, just across the river, National Airport was forcibly renamed – against the objections of the Washington DC city council, the Arlington County Board in Virginia, DCs Congressional Delegate at the time, the honorable Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton [D-DC] - As well as other regional politicians.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority also vigorously opposed the renaming of the airport, as this would mandate a expensive change of the name of the attached metro station which abuts the grounds. Reagan National Airport became the new official moniker of the airport in February 1998, a stunning example of the power of the Republican Party in Washington DC and across America in those years.