The constitution specifies only that the President take an oath of 35 words. It says nothing about parades or Inaugural balls or rock concerts. The challenge in a democracy is that you don't want a coronation (too much pomp and circumstance), but you do want to mark a change, a passing of the torch from one President to another. After all, it's "democracy's big day," as George Bush 4I called it in his unpretentious way: the orderly and peaceful transfer of power that is the foundation of the republic. Yes, it's mostly symbolic, but symbols matter.
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