The bell ringing and ceremonies can seem interminable, the parties and balls insufferably glitzy. Still, when the actual moment comes for the new President to raise his hand, take the oath and address his countrymen for the first time as their Chief Executive, all the old cliches come freshly true. It is a majestic combination of continuity and change. It does mark a peaceful transfer of awesome power, as remarkable for its ordinariness in the U.S. as for its rarity in the rest of the world. It does for a moment unite all Americans, however they voted, in hope that their...
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