A Utahn who organized George Bush's inauguration in 1989 has some advice for planners scrambling to put together the event for President-elect George W. Bush:
"Pray," Steve Studdert said. "Pray and work very hard. And then pray some more."
Presidential inauguration committees typically have more than two months from Election Day to put together the glitzy three- to four-day celebration. But the Bush team has only half that time because of the long-delayed final decision on the crucial vote count in Florida. Even under the best of circumstances, Studdert calls the enormous task "mind-boggling."
"There is nothing comparable to a presidential inauguration," he said. "There are no comparisons."
Bush will take the oath of office Jan. 20.
The presidential inaugural committee coordinates all official inaugural events except the actual swearing-in ceremony, which the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies plans.
An army of some 500 paid staff and 30,000 volunteers arrange dinners, balls and parties for hundreds of thousands of guests. It must line up tight-scheduled celebrities, hire musicians and entertainers and stage a big parade on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The event costs millions of dollars to put on, but other than the use of some government facilities, taxpayer money doesn't go into it, Studdert said. The inauguration committee raises the money from ticket sales, corporate donations and wealthy party members. George Bush's inauguration cost $25 million. Studdert guessed the younger Bush's would run at least that but didn't want to speculate on the price tag.
President Clinton's inaugurations in 1993 and 1997 ran about $33 million and $30 million, respectively.
"In my view, it's worth the cost," Studdert said, adding the United States is the only country that elects a president every four years. "And we always do it peacefully. It's worth it just to show the world how democracy works."
Studdert, now a political consultant who lives in Highland, said the Bush team called "two seconds" after the U.S. Supreme Court ended recounts in Florida last Tuesday. The committee did not hire him as a consultant but he expects plenty of telephone calls in the coming days.
"I'm changing my phone number," joked Studdert, who headed Utah's centennial celebration in 1996.
Studdert isn't the only Utahn with a hand in coordinating the presidential inauguration.
Navy reserve Capt. Russ Pendergrass was selected earlier this year to serve as director of logistics for the event. The Fruit Heights man moved to Washington, D.C., to work with the White House and the military to coordinate transportation, housing and dealing with unpredictable weather.
Studdert, 52, called the once-in-a-lifetime experience to oversee the elder Bush's bash "extremely exhausting." He remembers all too well the 20-hour days that started at 5 a.m. He and his staff took off only four hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas. He figures the current president-elect's committee will work around the clock until Inauguration Day.
Why not get a jump on the party planning while the Nov. 7 election was being contested?
Bad form.
"It's incorrect and impolite and bad luck to be so presumptuous to begin planning an inauguration before you're declared the winner," said Studdert, a former aide to Presidents Ford and Reagan.
The short time frame could limit what Bush will be able to do.
"There are some things that are going to be logistically impossible," he said. For example, Studdert said, there won't be time to bring in special guests like five schoolteachers from each state and all the Medal of Honor winners nationwide that were invited in 1989.
In the end, though, Studdert said he expects the resilient American spirit to pull through.
"Come January 20th at noon when the president will be sworn in, all the things that go on around the inauguration and its glories will happen," he said.
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