Washington Prepares for Inauguration Glitz and Glamour
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

New York City may be moping on January 20, but Washington, D.C., will be all glitz and glamour as it celebrates the inauguration of President Bush.
The theme for this year’s four-day shindig, “Celebrating Freedom, Honoring Service,” is in keeping with the nation’s at-war status. But even with the troops abroad, there will be plenty of partying, much of it within the Washington Convention Center.
This year there are nine official soirees – all patriotically titled with names like “Liberty Ball” and “Democracy Ball” – organized by the Presidential Inauguration Committee. Six of the balls will be held at the 2.3-million square-foot convention center; the rest will be held at hotel and museum spaces.
Supporters and party members from specific states will attend the majority of the official balls, which are expected to draw about 5,000 guests each. The “Stars and Stripes Ball” will be for the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania contingents, according to planning documents, although high-rolling donors can buy access to any and all events.
While the combined price tag for the inaugural celebrations is expected to be about $40 million, taxpayers don’t have to fear the bill, since all of it is being raised from private funds. The Presidential Inauguration Committee currently lists more than 40 donors, and as of December 23, only two of them are from New York. A subsidiary of Altria, the Manhattan-based food and tobacco corporation that owns Kraft and Philip Morris, Altria Corporate Services, donated $250,000, and an upstate real estate developer, Ilene Flaum, gave $100,000.
Among the other contributors are several oil and financial organizations, as well as individuals such as the founder of Dell Computers, Michael Dell, who paid $250,000. T. Boone Pickens, a Texas businessman who also helped bankroll an anti-Kerry group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, donated $250,000 to the celebration.
Tickets to the balls are currently available for purchase, but prices had not been set yesterday afternoon. One estimate provided by a representative at the Ticketing Hotline was $150 a person.
Prices won’t matter for 2,000 members of the armed forces invited by the Defense Department to the Commander-in-Chief Ball, which will be held at the National Building Museum. There will be no cost to the invited troops, who have recently returned from or are soon to depart for Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The Commander-In-Chief Ball will specifically honor and thank the men and women and their families who are on the front lines of freedom every day,” said PIC executive director, Greg Jenkins, in a statement.
Typically, the president and the first lady drop by several of the balls, and this year that process will be easier given that six of the parties are in the $855 million convention center.
“From a logistics perspective, moving the VIPs from one part of the city to the next will be easier,” said D.C.’s tourism chief, Bill Hanbury, CEO of the Washington D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation.
Mr. Hanbury is expecting to see between 35,000 and 40,000 overnight visitors to the city because of the inauguration – and a direct spending impact of about $45 million. The planning, he says, is under control, thanks to the un contested election: “We’re in pretty good shape. We had three or four more weeks of planning this time around.”
As for the convention center itself, he says the crowds will be manageable. “We could have 50,000 people at a major trade show. And that’s well within the scope of what the building can handle. The crowds for the balls will not be that big.”
The inaugural week will kick off Tuesday, January 18, with a tribute titled “Saluting Those Who Serve” at the MCI Center, a basketball arena, and a “youth concert” that evening at The Armory. There will be three candlelight dinners on Wednesday evening. The official swearing-in will be held Thursday at noon on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, followed by the traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. The balls start at 7:00 p.m. and end at 1:00 a.m. And just to make sure that no one gets too rowdy, a prayer service at the National Cathedral will take place the next morning promptly at 10:00 a.m.
Of course, there are unofficial parties cropping up all over, too. One hot ticket is the “Black Tie and Boots Ball” hosted by the Texas State Society on January 19 at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel. But unless you’re a member of the society and already received your tickets in the mail, you’ll have to curry favor with a Texan member to get in, as ticket sales have ended.
The Creative Coalition, an arts advocacy group, is throwing the “Ball After the Balls” on January 20 at the Ronald Reagan Building. Individual tickets to the event, hosted by Dennis Hopper, run $1,000, and that includes the evening’s performance by Macy Gray.
As for what they’re wearing, first lady Laura Bush and the Bush daughters have yet to make decisions on their finery. In the last four years, this administration has shown a penchant for American couturier Oscar de la Renta, who could surely tailor some of his splashy looks down to a more conservative style for a first lady who prefers a buttoned up look. For her first inaugural ball gown, Ms. Bush wore a high-necked, scarlet-red gown with long-sleeves by Dallas designer Michael Faircloth.
The first daughters are also fans of Mr. de la Renta, but Jenna Bush has a professional connection to designer Zac Posen. Both girls have worn plenty of looks by Texas designer Lela Rose, whose clean, pretty aesthetic fits the bill. Given their track records, whatever the Bush family women choose, it will surely be American, feminine, and not too fashion-forward.