Another who decried the behavior of the protesters was D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who attended the swearing-in, then rode in the parade just behind Vice President Cheney from the Capitol to the Wilson Building.
Williams called the president's speech "inspirational" and said the inauguration was "very well done." He said he was saddened and angered by what he described as inappropriate displays, including obscene gestures and protest signs and vulgarities shouted in front of children.
Guests on the dais turn to the flag during the national anthem, including, at left, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and, at right, former counselor Karen Hughes and chief political adviser Karl Rove.
(Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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Contributors
Washington Post staff members who contributed to this report include Tara Bahrampour, Karlyn Barker, Bill Broadway, David Cho, Michele Clock, D'Vera Cohn, Tim Craig, Alicia Cypress, Susan DeFord, Lila de Tantillo, Daniel de Vise, David S. Fallis, Nicole Fuller, Annie Gowen, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Hamil R. Harris, Peter Hayes, Aruna Jain, Mark Jones, Allison Klein, Fredrick Kunkle, Theola S. Labbe, Allan Lengel, Carol D. Leonnig, Susan Levine, Jerry Markon, Geraldine Marmer, Terence McArdle, Carol Morello, David Nakamura, Amy Orndorff, Joshua Partlow, Bobbye Pratt, Sue Anne Pressley, Olwen Price, Bridget Roeber, Brigid Schulte, Daniele Seiss, Mary Beth Sheridan, Nikita Stewart, Lena H. Sun, Martin Weil, Eric M. Weiss, Vanessa Williams, Yolanda Woodlee, Bruce C.T. Wright and Molli Yood.
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"It really does piss me off that people are so selfish that they can't give him this one day," Williams said. Bush "was elected by the American people. Who are you preaching your message to?"
He also said he was very proud of the performance of the city's police force as well as that of officers who came to Washington from across the country to help.
Many businesses in the secure section of the city were closed. Some restaurants stayed open for business or for private parties. Spectators waiting for the parade went on search missions for bathrooms and hot coffee.
A Starbucks at Indiana Avenue and Seventh Street NW suddenly became an unplanned security threat as dozens of people crowded into the coffee house for mochas, lattes and hot chocolate. Authorities threw up a metal detector and created a makeshift conveyor belt out of brown crates and cardboard from the nearby restaurant. One Secret Service agent recommended shaking coffee cups to check for rocks.
Vicki Whitsett of Hale County, Ala., didn't even get a cup of coffee but was forced to go through the makeshift security checkpoint because she had escorted some high school students into the Starbucks.
"I'm fed up. I've had it up to here with security. You don't want to talk to me," she said.
Tension sometimes arose between those who had tickets for bleacher seats and those who had to find a place to stand. And some got unexpected surprises. With the parade about to begin at any minute, security officers surveyed the nearly empty bleachers in front of the National Archives.
An officer called over several parade volunteers. Unticketed spectators would be allowed to fill the seats, but "be selective," he warned. An inauguration volunteer from Sacramento chatted with three shivering high school girls from Houston. He offered them front-row seats in the bleachers. They gratefully accepted. They had waited in line for two hours to catch a glimpse of the president. He's a fellow Texan, after all.
Some ticket holders were moved from their section to the more sparsely occupied risers. By the start of the procession, the bleachers were full.
Not everyone who attended yesterday's festivities voted for Bush. Some were Democrats who came to the inauguration to demonstrate a lack of post-election bitterness.
Zenobia Williams, 45, a hospital technician from Oklahoma City, voted for Sen. John F. Kerry in November. She obtained a ticket to the Bush inauguration from a Republican friend.
"He's still our president," said Williams as she opened her mink coat so security officers could wave a wand before allowing her to enter the West Lawn of the Capitol.
"I feel everybody has to have personal closure," said Terree Schmidt, 53, head of a community clinic in Seattle and a Kerry voter who went through her congressman's office to obtain a ticket for a seat near the podium. "The election's over, and we need to support the president now."
For many, such as Gayle Lake, whatever they had to endure was worth it. After spending hours fighting her way through crammed security checkpoints and missing the president's motorcade, she sat on a nearly abandoned bleacher on 15th Street waiting for the parade to finish so she could go back to her hotel.
"This used to be a free country," said Lake, 56, a Republican donor and real estate agent from Sacramento. "We can't lock ourselves down. We can't become such a military state. At least I'm experiencing it first-hand. Not a lot of people get to say that."
