In The History Of The World. Privately, meanwhile, Inauguration Day is a series of wild parties for whichever clique will be pillaging taxpayers for the next four years. For more sober observers, it's all just a reminder that while you can watch once every four years for a few hours, Washington power is really an ongoing series of parties to which you're not invited. All modern-day U.S. inaugurations, regardless of the victorious party, are like this.
Protesters confront the passing presidential limo.
Among the estimated 300,000 people that gathered in the light rain at the Capitol and along Pennsylvania Avenue, tens of thousands of people expressed their belief that the whole thing was a fraud. It was the largest inaugural protest since Nixon. This year, there was no such organization and Dubya hadn't even had a chance to step in the Oval Office with his new boots yet. This year at least 20 mostly obscure groups planned protests. Only five weeks earlier, Al Gore's supporters, buoyed by the Florida Supreme Court ruling, believed they'd be the ones marching and partying.