The Inauguration - America's Special Day

The 44th elected President of the United States has been sworn in and has delivered his Inaugural Address. This democratic and peaceful transition of power has occurred every four yeas since March 4th,1789, when George Washington was sworn in and gave his First Inaugural Address. Nothing has ever prevented or delayed this uniquely American transfer of power. Not even the Civil War overrode the constitutional obligation to elect and swear in a President every four years. Americans are used to being told that they are a young people with a history much shorter than other nations. But, if we consider the status of some of these other countries in March, 1789, another picture develops. *George III was still King of England. *Germany was still a loose agglomeration of states being held togther as an Empire by Prussian power and the Hohenzollern dynasty. *Italy was under French occupation and otherwise a peninsula of independent states. *Canada would not become a united country for more than 50 years. *Mexico was still New Spain and because of its silver mines the richest country in the Americas. *China was a poor country led by emperors and warlords. *Japan was still closed to foreigners and would be for another 60 years. *Russia was ruled by Tsar Paul I, the son of Catherine the Great, who died just three years before Washington was elected. *Australia was still being used largely as a place to send British criminals. *Switzerland had been a Confederation for 500 years but was 60 years away from its modern system. *And even France was four months away from the Estates Generals that gave governing power to the National Assembly, which adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man in June, 1789. Dear readers, the American Declaratipn of Independence, the forerunner of the French Declaration, had already been adopted in 1776. The American Constitution was already adopted, in 1787, including the Bill of Rights. So, while America may be a young nation, it is an old constitutional republic. We could say that America is the oldest continuing constitutional republic in the world. And Americans have never deviated from the precious documenr that guides their political system. As a side note, the American Constitution is the most often copied governing document in the world. So, enjoy your special day, America.