Because of the cold weather, President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be held inside the Capitol Rotunda.WXII sat down with Richard Landesberg, an Elon University professor who was present the last time a president was sworn in at the Rotunda 40 years ago. “We spent months, literally months, wiring everything,” he said. Landesberg remembers January 1985 quite well. Mainly, the blistering cold and the hours upon hours of preparation he spent as a radio pool producer, preparing for the second inauguration of former President Ronald Reagan. “I stood where he was going to stand,” Landesberg said. “It was a very thrilling thing when you’re a young journalist, and we were going to cover the whole thing from the platform, because that’s the way it’s always been done.”However, all that work was overturned in the span of just one phone call. “The telephone rang at 6 o’clock the night before,” Landesberg said. “It was the White House. They said, ‘You know how cold it’s been?’ Yeah, I know how cold it’s been. I’ve been out there for days and days. ‘Well, a little too cold. We’re moving it inside. Be ready by noon tomorrow.’ That was quite the challenge.”However, as any journalist does in the face of a challenge — his team adapted and overcame. The ceremony moved to the Capitol Rotunda, and Landesberg was there to watch history being made. “You don’t have 100,000, 200,000, a million people. They’re not out there in front of you, but there’s an intimacy to it,” Landesberg said.Trump will face a similar situation to his predecessor, a much smaller ceremony. It’s in stark contrast to the large-scale event he and his team may have originally wanted. “This, of course, deprives him, on one hand, of having a huge crowd,” Landesberg said. “We don’t know how many people would have shown up. How President Trump decides to brand it, how he decides to spin it, is going to be really fascinating to watch over the next couple of days. Landesberg said that because the production from years ago went well, he has no doubt Monday’s ceremony will be anything different.
Because of the cold weather, President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be held inside the Capitol Rotunda.
WXII sat down with Richard Landesberg, an Elon University professor who was present the last time a president was sworn in at the Rotunda 40 years ago.
“We spent months, literally months, wiring everything,” he said.
Landesberg remembers January 1985 quite well. Mainly, the blistering cold and the hours upon hours of preparation he spent as a radio pool producer, preparing for the second inauguration of former President Ronald Reagan.
“I stood where he was going to stand,” Landesberg said. “It was a very thrilling thing when you’re a young journalist, and we were going to cover the whole thing from the platform, because that’s the way it’s always been done.”
However, all that work was overturned in the span of just one phone call.
-“The telephone rang at 6 o’clock the night before,” Landesberg said. “It was the White House. They said, ‘You know how cold it’s been?’ Yeah, I know how cold it’s been. I’ve been out there for days and days. ‘Well, a little too cold. We’re moving it inside. Be ready by noon tomorrow.’ That was quite the challenge.”
However, as any journalist does in the face of a challenge — his team adapted and overcame. The ceremony moved to the Capitol Rotunda, and Landesberg was there to watch history being made.
“You don’t have 100,000, 200,000, a million people. They’re not out there in front of you, but there’s an intimacy to it,” Landesberg said.
Trump will face a similar situation to his predecessor, a much smaller ceremony. It’s in stark contrast to the large-scale event he and his team may have originally wanted.
“This, of course, deprives him, on one hand, of having a huge crowd,” Landesberg said. “We don’t know how many people would have shown up. How President Trump decides to brand it, how he decides to spin it, is going to be really fascinating to watch over the next couple of days.
Landesberg said that because the production from years ago went well, he has no doubt Monday’s ceremony will be anything different.
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