Should I attend Trump’s second inauguration?

“Tell us one interesting thing about yourself.” 

I’ve always disliked that “icebreaker” question, whether it occurs in a business gathering, conference breakout, Sunday school class, retreat setting or anywhere else. I always have considered my life to have been a deeply rewarding one so far, but also hopelessly ordinary. Plus, I find it difficult to formulate answers that quickly.

On one such occasion, a truly sincere and non-embellished answer, one that some have considered to be mildly interesting, did pop into my head and therefore out of my mouth: “For almost fifty years, I’ve seen every United States president in person since Gerald Ford.”

To my pleasant surprise, some in the group considered that anomaly mildly interesting, so it’s been my go-to icebreaker response ever since.

There never was a plan on my part to launch such a goal, but over the years it has remained a mostly fun and quirky goal, even if admittedly more difficult to maintain than it used to be.

Before I recite a chronology of these memorable POTUS sightings, a bit of background may offer some context.

For several years in the early 1990s, I served on our local county’s Republican Executive Committee. In those days, its consistently sharp leadership and diverse cross section of citizens made it a mostly fun group of congenial patriots. Having long considered myself a “moderate Republican,” one who by nature and upbringing (as a “preacher’s kid”) has always tried to seek common ground with others, I found it perfectly suited for my personality.

We even hosted a statewide Republican gathering one year, during which an ink pen malfunction occurred as Newt Gingrich attempted to autograph my program. (“Mark, you need to get yourself a new pen,” was The Honorable Mr. Speaker’s closing admonition as he walked away.) I’ll admit to having been somewhat uncomfortable helping to set up a booth for Eagle Forum as I was never a fan of that organization or its founder, Phyllis Schlafly.

That same week, I also met a local radio host named Sean Hannity, who occasionally still mentions his brief stint in North Alabama and how much he enjoyed any opportunity to visit the now closed, but fondly remembered, Mando’s Pizza in Decatur. Nowadays that is probably one of our few remaining areas of agreement.

In the years following, long before the ascent of Donald Trump, I began to find myself increasingly frustrated with the Republican Party’s continual surge to the far right. The attacks on more affordable health care and public schools, especially the growing embrace of Christian nationalism and vouchers for private religious schools, are views I cannot imagine ever supporting in good conscience.

For too long, I watched and admired my mother, a retired elementary music teacher, nurture gifted students even while working tirelessly to assist low-income and special needs children “beyond the extra mile” as a Christian witness — only to be criticized nowadays as having been associated with “godless government schools and teacher unions.”

Then came the era of Trump, which launched its own floodgate of new concerns. But I digress.

Gerald Ford

I was barely a teenager when I traveled with my family to the 1976 Southern Baptist Convention in Norfolk, Va. Being the nation’s bicentennial year, President Ford was asked to bring greetings and deliver remarks to those gathered. Security back then largely consisted of my mom, aunt and grandmother having to open their purses for a guard to look inside before entering.

All I remember from the president’s address that day is that he read quotes from several Founding Fathers that praised “the Baptists” for their contributions to the nation and religious liberty. For a young kid, it was thrilling; and in the years afterward my respect and admiration for this good and decent man would continue to grow.

While in seminary many years later, I learned that some in the SBC had criticized Ford’s appearance during an election year, citing church-state concerns. I was too young back then to have been aware of anything like that, but one interesting detail I do recall is that 1976 was the year Southern Baptists were reported to have overwhelmingly backed Jimmy Carter, his opponent.

In fact, at the SBC Pastors’ Conference earlier that same week in Norfolk, we heard Anita Bryant tell the crowd something like this: “I’ll probably be condemned for endorsing a candidate …” (to which a man in the audience screamed “Go ahead!”) “… but we have a chance this year to finally send a born-again president to the White House.”

Later that night my father, as much as he admired Jimmy Carter, told us he thought her comments were inappropriate, especially with Gerald Ford scheduled to speak that same week.

Jimmy Carter

I have had the privilege of seeing and hearing President Carter several times over the years. The first occasion was when he spoke at Samford University my senior year. The A Cappella Choir, of which I was a member, was invited to sit behind him on the stage and sing before and during the program. That was very exciting, of course, as was the chance to shake his hand afterward.

Perhaps most memorable was hearing Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter address the 1993 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Birmingham. I met my dad and another preacher friend for supper beforehand at the long-gone but well remembered Ollie’s Barbecue, which was known for (1) the ability of its servers to remember an entire table’s food order without writing it down; and (2) having been the subject of an important lawsuit during the Civil Rights era. Upon returning to the General Assembly, an entire row of friends from our church back home joined us for that memorable evening.

Years later, I heard President Carter speak a third time during a gathering in Atlanta called the New Baptist Covenant. He had been instrumental in spearheading this historic multiracial event, which would become a recurring one that continued to bring diverse groups together for worship, fellowship and the exchange of ideas for shared Christian ministry.

Ronald Reagan

One of the biggest outdoor events in the history of our little city, its population back then slightly more than 40,000, was July 4, 1984, when President Ronald Reagan spoke during the annual Spirit of America festival at Point Mallard Park. For many years, with or without Reagan, it was the largest Independence Day celebration in Alabama.

Local folks, me included, never will forget the excitement of seeing the presidential helicopter land right in front of us, followed by hearing Reagan’s address. To further commemorate his visit, the Spirit of America stage later was renamed in his honor. By then, of course, most white evangelicals had long abandoned Jimmy Carter and shifted their support to Ronald Reagan.

One memorable side note is that Reagan was welcomed on stage that day by Gov. George Wallace. Long confined to his wheelchair, Wallace had been reelected for an umpteenth term after being off the scene several years. He had famously visited Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery to apologize for his past support of segregation. I never will forget the voice of sardonic late NBC newscaster David Brinkley announcing on election night, with a deep sigh: “Well, believe it or not, George Wallace has been reelected as the governor of Alabama … although this time as a liberal.”

George H.W. Bush

Within a span of three years, I had the opportunity of twice seeing the elder Bush in person while he was serving as vice president. The first occasion was at the Superdome in New Orleans, again with my family, back when attending the annual Southern Baptist Convention was still a big deal. The entire Sunday evening session of the Pastors’ Conference was structured along the lines of a Billy Graham crusade, as he had been enlisted to speak that night.

Among others appearing on the program were Johnny Cash and June Carter, Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea and the vice president himself. Acclaimed soloists Beverly Terrell and Willa Dorsey thrilled listeners as they sang with an enormous combined choir.

For his introduction of the evening’s keynote speaker, I will never forget that year’s conference president, Ed Young, simply walking to the podium to say: “Ladies and gentlemen … an evangelist from Montreat, N.C., Billy Graham”, followed by a thunderous standing ovation. Graham proceeded to preach from John 3:16.

Alas, I don’t recall one word George H.W. Bush said that night, only that he was there. I was scheduled to hop on a plane the next morning to fly from New Orleans to Brownsville, Texas, where I would join a group of fellow Samford students for an unforgettable summer missions experience along the Rio Grande.

Around two years later, similar to when Jimmy Carter spoke on campus, our Samford University A Cappella Choir again was invited to sit on stage and sing for Vice President George H.W. Bush the day he visited. This time I got to shake hands with him after his speech.

They were not perfect individuals, but I thought the world of both President and First Lady Barbara Bush and was sad when they died.

Bill Clinton

In 1992, my college friend and former seminary roommate, Patrick Horn, was living in Washington, D.C., while working for the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs (now Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty). Even though he knew I had voted for Bush, Pat invited several of us for a visit the week of Clinton’s inauguration in early 1993. He had been given two extra admission tickets for the Inaugural Eve Prayer Service at First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C. My friend from back home, Steve NcNutt, and I were therefore given rare clearance for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

“You’ll have to hide from (BJC Executive Director) James Dunn if you see him”, Pat kiddingly instructed me. He will complain about my bringing a Republican.” I had gotten to know the inimitable James Dunn a little bit through Pat and because of my having written a couple of articles for the BJC newsletter.

Sure enough, as the service was about to begin, James walked right up the aisle beside the pew in which I was seated on the end and said, with his epic curmudgeonly humor: “Well, look, there’s one of our regular col-yum-nists. … How did you get in here?”

“Well, look, there’s one of our regular col-yum-nists. … How did you get in here?”

“I must have known somebody in high places,” was my quick reply.

There was indeed a wide assortment of people who gathered at the church that night. Standing in front of us in the line to gain entrance was Jan Crouch, matriarch and co-founder of the Trinity Network, which was then broadcast worldwide. Anyone who ever saw her on television, with her distinct appearance and makeup which surpassed that of the late Tammy Faye Bakker, will understand what I mean by saying that to actually see her up close and in person was, well …. interesting.

Behind us in line were choir members from Bill Clinton’s Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, who had been invited to sing that night along with the host congregation’s choir. One woman in the Arkansas group smiled and said to me, “We’re all just so proud of Bill.”

Indeed, one of their fellow singers had now been elected president of the United States.

Once inside the church building, it was a solemn moment when the Clintons, Gores and Carters (yet again) were escorted to their seats. I looked at Steve and said, “Who would have ever guessed we’d be sitting in a room with two presidents?”

Years later, I would reflect twice on that night, when it looked like Al Gore, then Hillary Clinton, would be elected; leading me to selfishly lament two missed opportunities to check off another “president in-person” box without having to travel anywhere.

Most unforgettable was the prayer service itself. A magnificent address by broadcaster Bill Moyers on religious freedom was a highlight, as was hearing the beloved “Roll Call of Faith” Scripture passage from the book of Hebrews. It was read by the late U.S. representative and Baptist preacher’s daughter Barbara Jordan, one of the nation’s great orators and a towering moral conscience of that era.

A few years later, I would hear Bill Clinton speak again at the same New Baptist Covenant gathering in Atlanta where I heard Jimmy Carter.

George W. Bush and Barack Obama 

It’s probably not a good idea to ever use the phrase “kill two birds with one stone” when speaking about any U.S. president. So I’ll simply say that a double checklist opportunity arose for me in 2015.

It was announced that both the current and former presidents, along with their wives, would be attending the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” to be held at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. My good friend Mike Morgan wanted to go, so I said, “Let’s do it.”

Arriving that morning for yet another “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, we soon discovered thousands of other people had acted upon the same idea. Although we parked miles away in order to catch a shuttle bus to downtown Selma, we still had to walk for what seemed like eternity to arrive at the infamous bridge on that unseasonably warm Saturday. I was pleased to see members of the stately old and predominantly white First Baptist Church, with its less than stellar history of race relations in previous years, handing out bottles of water to passersby, the crowd being at least 80% African American that day.

Upon arriving at the bridge, we were disappointed to discover hardly any of us in the crowd — which would remain standing for the entire program — would be able to see the podium unless we were 7 feet tall.  We resigned ourselves to at least being able to hear everything well; and indeed what an honor to simply be in the presence of John Lewis and so many other legends of the Civil Rights Movement. (One notable exception was Diane Nash, who regrettably refused to attend after learning Bush would be there.)

Among the unexpected speakers that day was Peggy Wallace Kennedy, daughter of former governors George and Lurleen Wallace, whose powerful recent book had provided a jarring account of her own pilgrimage, as well as renewed efforts by her family to atone for past injustices and promote racial healing among current and future generations. Both President Obama and the younger President Bush delivered inspiring speeches very appropriate for the occasion.

What a spectacular moment it was when the program finally concluded, as each of the dignitaries began waving as they turned around and started walking up the bridge. Ever so briefly, we finally were able to glimpse both presidents and their wives, with gratitude for all the inspiring speeches we had heard and for our having taken the opportunity to participate in this milestone event.

Donald Trump

By the time President Trump announced he would be coming to Huntsville, Ala., not long after his election in 2016, I already had declared myself a card-carrying “Never Trumper.” He was the opposite of everything my father modeled and taught us about having compassion for others, being a man, treating women with respect, good sportsmanship, and the ability to admit mistakes or ask forgiveness. All of that, of course, was (and is) just the tip of a well-documented iceberg.

He was nonetheless our newly elected president, and therefore the latest entry on my longstanding checklist. So when some friends asked if my younger brother and I wanted to go hear him at the Von Braun Civic Center, I decided there never would be another opportunity as conveniently early or nearby. So we decided to go.

Interestingly, we were able to enter the building with almost no wait, and the security measures caused minimal inconvenience. Knowing how much Trump likes to reflect on crowd numbers, I will also state for the record that there was a GOOD crowd inside the civic center, but it was not completely FULL.

I proceeded to give my brother his instructions for the evening: You may stand and applaud as the president enters, out of respect for the office, and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. You may applaud if he says anything generically patriotic, but not when he says something ridiculous — which will be most of the time. He simply replied by saying, as he has for years, that older siblings are bossy. Surely that isn’t true.

To his credit, Trump delivered what did not seem like an eternally long speech. Perhaps in a nod to Huntsville’s space industry, that night will be remembered for being the first time (I think) he ever called the leader of North Korea “Little Rocket Man.” They would reportedly become great friends later on.

Interestingly, the main reason for Trump’s visit to North Alabama was to campaign for a Senate candidate who was later defeated in the primary. He was beaten by the infamous “Ten Commandments Judge” Roy Moore, who would himself be defeated in the general election by Doug Jones. Alabama would now be represented for a few years by a Democrat, which is exceedingly rare these days.

Joe Biden

Here’s where it gets a little bit complicated: I haven’t yet seen President Joe Biden in person.

When he first announced plans to run for re-election, I assumed Biden surely would be traveling to Georgia for one or two campaign stops, or at least somewhere not too far away, giving me a chance to shamelessly (or shamefully?) maintain my record. All that changed when Biden was declared to be too old, and suddenly Vice President Kamala Harris was running for election to both the presidency and my checklist.

Like so many others around the country, I was greatly impressed by how well the Harris campaign was launched. Thousands were enthralled as she seemed to flawlessly navigate her new role, and before long I was among those who viewed her as invincible against the possibility of a second Trump term.

A great idea then popped into my head: I could attend the inauguration of Kamala Harris, which would provide another chance for “killing (not killing) two birds with one stone” and seeing two presidents at once. I truly believed — and still do believe — there likely never will be another chance for me to see President Biden in person.

So I enlisted one of my good friends to go, then made reservations at a hotel and on a North Carolina tour bus which would carry us directly to the inauguration, the parade, and back to North Carolina.

Then came election day.

I would have to either completely revise or shelve my original plans.

What now?

So many new questions abound:  Should I still go to Washington? I’ve already paid for a hotel and tour bus. Would I be safe in that MAGA crowd? Should I consider myself a missionary to the MAGAs? They would more likely consider themselves missionaries to me. Or perhaps I should be like Forest Gump and simply throw myself into the National Mall’s reflecting pool?

In all seriousness, in light of what many people would consider much ado about nothing, I am faced with some important decision-making that involves numerous practical, ethical, financial, vocational and spiritual considerations. As I prayerfully ponder it all, I shall continue to offer supplication for our new president and other leaders, as we are commanded to do. I also pray the rest of us will strive even more to be the presence of Christ; whether it be in our nation’s capital, encamped with the MAGA faithful or back home in our daily lives.

By the time some people read this article, I may already have attended the inauguration and returned from Washington. Unless I didn’t.

 

Mark Ray is a licensed counselor, lay historian and former city council member in Decatur, Ala. He also is a past member of the Morgan County Republican Executive Committee.