By Denis Campbell

“I told Marshall that no matter how long he lives, there will never be another day in American history quite like the day Barack Obama is inaugurated.” These were the words of our friend Charley James’ pal Susan in Washington whose 17-year old son is coming home from university for the occasion. “Without a ticket to the swearing in, I know we’ll be light years away from the podium but we simply want to be there” she said. 

Well here we go. 14 days and 90 minutes until the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. Charley and I will keep you up-to-date with daily news, events and trivia. An estimated 4-million people will descend on Washington DC for noontime ceremonies marking the beginning of new era in Washington.

Everyone wants to be there if only to watch on a giant screen from a mile away. At noon (17:00 GMT) Barack Obama will place his hand on the Lincoln Bible, the same one used by President Lincoln during his Inaugural and recite the oath of office: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 35 words that convey the title of Commander in Chief and, some would say somewhat arguably, the most powerful man in the world.

What is truly extraordinary is that a 132 executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of Washington, DC undergoes the biggest 5-hour change of all. An entire new staff walks through the doors at 12:01 pm and the residence also undergoes a major shift from 8 Bush years to the arrival of Team Obama.

At 10:45 am the Presdient and President-elect and their families leave the White House via motorcade for the Capitol. 94-White House staff then have about five hours to blitz everything from the West Wing to the family residence to the East Wing (First Lady’s Office). Gary Walters, recently retired White House Head Usher for 21-years said, “household staff, painters, carpenters, florists and even calligraphers, along with the new decorator and his or her staff, unpack the family’s things and put everything away. The goal is no unopened boxes by the time the new First Family returns to get ready for the evening.

$100,000 budgeted for switchover, private donations take care of rest and it is organised and choreographed chaos at its best.

The Obama’s will attend 10 “official” Inaugural balls that night (50 other un-official balls go on without them) and DC parties hearty until dawn. Washington DC even passed an ordinance to allow bars to stay open 24-hours that week. 

And opportunism, thy name is Inaugural is the by-word.If you want to be there pack a thick wallet as everything will be over-priced 4-5 times the regular. Total package prices range from $500 (ticket to ball) to $50,000 (four seats at swearing in and tickets to major ball) as part of big donor packages are just the beginning. Taxi drivers, restaurants, private parties, function halls all will charge and get top dollar for events that week.

If you don’t already have a place to stay there is a website: Air Bed and Breakfast.com where you can stay on someone’s sofa or guest room for between £20 to £2000 per night (those closest in to the events cost the most).

The rest of us will watch on telly and wish them well as 2 billion people around the world are expected to tune in on that day. It’s gonna be fun to watch!

Coming next: Inaugural trivia