"It was a presidential directive to specially honor the men and women whose hard work is critical to the security of our country," said Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee, "and it is an opportunity to celebrate those individuals and their families who have sacrificed and a way to acknowledge those who are out on the front lines of freedom."
The war has also given protesters a major reason to come to the inauguration. Protest organizers predict a massive outpouring of dissent, saying that Bush's Nov. 2 victory has galvanized an array of activists from across the country. Marches, street theater and civil disobedience are part of the plans, which are still being fine-tuned, they said. They said tens of thousands -- some said hundreds of thousands -- will be on the streets Jan. 20, fueled by their opposition to the war in Iraq and the administration's policies on civil liberties, the environment and other causes.
"I think people will see a nonviolent, popular uprising by people of all ages, colors and backgrounds, declaring this administration illegitimate, corrupt and thoroughly unacceptable," said Shahid Buttar, 30, a D.C. lawyer involved in counter-inaugural plans.
The D.C. police department will cancel days off and put most of its 3,800 officers on 12-hour shifts on Inauguration Day, Chief Charles H. Ramsey said. Police officials said they expect at least 2,500 officers from other jurisdictions to help maintain security. "This is the first post-9/11 inauguration we've had," Ramsey said. "We have to deal with the security of the parade, deal with the [protest] issue."
There will be more visible security at hotels, too, said Lisa Stewart, spokeswoman for nine full-service Marriott and Renaissance hotels in the District and Arlington. She said that there would be more patrols in lobbies and that guests downtown would be affected by street closures.
That hasn't dissuaded people from booking rooms, she said: "There are still rooms available, but they are going really fast, much faster than last season. It's very busy, and all the hotels do expect to sell out."
One reason rooms are going faster is that people knew more quickly this time who won the election, she said. By the week after the election this time, she said, hotels were "heavily booked."
On the streets, there also will be new screening technology and a specialized military contingent.
Working reporters, photographers and other journalists requiring access to the U.S. Capitol or to elevated media stands on the West Front Terrace during the inauguration will be required to undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks for one-day credentials.
The total number of journalists affected is expected to be a small fraction of the media covering the event, said Larry Janezich, director of the Senate Radio-TV Gallery, which serves electronic media outlets.
Security officials emphasized that they wanted to encourage public participation and expected a crowd of hundreds of thousands.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said that the public still could expect to be as close to event participants as in 2001 and that the security perimeter would not be greatly increased, although sturdier fencing and more checkpoints will be in place.
"We and the U.S. Secret Service are going to be processing a couple of hundred thousand people just on the West Front alone, so people should be as intelligent as they can about what they bring with them," Gainer said. "We understand it could be cold. They should bundle up. But no large objects."
Staff writers Karlyn Barker, D'Vera Cohn, Manny Fernandez, Spencer S. Hsu, Neely Tucker and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.
