The inauguration today our nation’s 59th is about more than the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. While it certainly achieves that, the ceremony at noon, which will be held on the west side of the Capitol, has also come to symbolize the significance of the office and signal the kind of administration the incoming president intends to establish.
But this one will be markedly different from those of more recent decades. Absent will be the celebratory crowds and glittering social events, owing to COVID-19 concerns. And thousands of additional members of law enforcement and the National Guard will be present to provide security after last week’s smashing of decorum and symbols by a rioting mob of Trump supporters inside the Capitol.