The Obama Inauguration Viewing Guide

It’s taken a long time to get here, but finally, Obama will swear in as the 44th president of the United States of America today. I live in India, and have been trying to figure out when, how and where I’m going to catch all the action.

Okay, coverage of the inauguration starts on CNN at 8 AM eastern (US time). I’m going to stick with EST times throughout, but I am adding the schedule and a clock that tells you what time it is in Washington DC right now in the sidebar. I’ll keep it there for the next day or so. (Right, so I’ve taken it off, Jan 21, 2009)

Now that CNN has hooked up with Facebook to let us catch the inauguration live with our friends, I’m sure you’re going to see Indian channels wanting to do the same for the general elections this year. In case you’re interested, get in touch with me, we’d be happy to build a facebook app for you.

Then there’s friendfeed with its live rooms. I have to admit November 4 became hugely interesting because of Friendfeed. And of course, twitter. In case you want to follow multiple conversations about the inauguration from people you don’t know, check out Roomatic.

Great post at wired about the role technology has played in inaugurations through the years:

1801:Thomas Jefferson’s inaugural address is the first to prompt a newspaper “extra” edition.

1817:Steamboat service initiated on the Potomac two years earlier can carry news of James Monroe’s first inauguration.

1837:News of Martin Van Buren’s inauguration can be carried by rail, because the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began service from Washington two years earlier.

1845:As James Polk takes the oath of office, telegraph inventor Samuel Morse sits nearby, tapping out the news to places as far as Baltimore.

1857:James Buchanan’s inauguration is the first one known to be photographed, though incumbent President James Knox Polk was photographed in 1849, and former President John Quincy Adams sat for photographs in 1843. Sat is the operative word here: The long exposure times required for early photography made it hard to capture a live event for many years.

1885:A year after long-distance telephone service begins on the East Coast, news of Grover Cleveland’s first inaugural may well be spoken over the wires.

1897:Highlights of William McKinley’s first inauguration are captured in moving pictures.

1905: Telephones are installed on the Capitol grounds for the first time for President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural.

1921:Warren G. Harding becomes the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile. It’s also the first use of loudspeakers, so people in the crowd can actually hear the swearing-in and inaugural address. And an advance copy of Harding’s inaugural address is read by an announcer on radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh.

1925:President Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration is broadcast live on 24 radio stations nationally.

1929:Herbert Hoover’s inaugural is the first recorded by talking newsreel, though Lee de Forest took talking movies of the 1924 presidential candidates.

1949:President Harry S. Truman is inaugurated on national television.

1961:John F. Kennedy’s is the first inaugural parade on color TV, though Dwight D. Eisenhower made the first presidential appearance on color TV in 1955.

1981:Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration is the world’s first telecast to feature live closed-caption teletext subtitles for the hearing-impaired.

1997:President Bill Clinton’s second inaugural is the first one ever webcast.

2009:Barack Obama’s inauguration will be widely twittered.

Source:Kane’s Famous Famous First Facts;Presidential Trivia, by Richard Lederer; websites linked above; via Wired

Also read:

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If anybody else has any ideas, post a comment I’ll try and update the post through the day.

Recovered from the site’s WordPress archive, where it was published on 2009-01-19.