Dear Descendants: The Events of January 6, 2021 (January 8, 2021)

[I remind readers that these occasional letters to my descendants are intended to share and explain my experience living through various momentous events that happened during my life.  As such, they contain my personal opinion.  Others are free to disagree as to what the events meant from their point of view and they should record and preserve their thoughts and beliefs for their descendants to read and judge just as my descendants will do.]

Dear Descendants:

I originally began this post on Monday, January 4, 2021–the day after the meeting and swearing in of the 117th Congress and the day before the momentous Senate elections in the state of Georgia that would determine which party would control the new Senate after the general election of November 3, 2020. 

Following the November 2020 general elections, the Democratic Party retained control of the House of Representatives, albeit it with a smaller majority than before the elections.  Control of the new Senate was undecided and literally hung in the balance because there were 50 Republican Senators after the general election and there were 46 Democratic Senators with two Independent Senators who caucused with the Democrats–leaving a Senate of 50 Republicans and 48 Senators who voted as Democrats. 

The Georgia Senate races provided an unusual sitation where both U.S. Senate seats were up for election in runoffs on January 5, 2021 because no candidate received more than 50% of the votes in the original elections held on November 3, 2020.  One of the two races was a special election to fill the remaining two years in the term of Republican Senator John H. Isakson, who had resigned due to health reasons after being re-elected to his third six-year tem in 2016.  His seat had been filled with an appointment by Republican Governor Brian Kemp and neither the appointed Senator, Kelly Loeffler, nor any of her opponents–particularly Democrat Rafael Warnock–had been able to garner more than 50% of the vote.  The nation was watching the Georgia elections (about $500 million dollars–half a billion dollars–was poured into the race) to see which way control of the Senate would go.  Because the Democrats, Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, had won the presidency and the vice presidency in the November elections, a 50/50 Senate would be controlled by the Democrats with the slimest of margins.  The Vice President, as President of the Senate, is the tie breaking vote.  While a sweep of both Senate seats by the Democratic candidates was possible, it was generally deemed to be unlikely both seats would flip to the Democrats.

When this post was originally started, the nation was also focused on January 6th, 2021 (two days ago) as the date that the Congress would receive, open, and count the certified elector results from each of the states, thereby confirming officially Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, as the President-elect and the Vice President-elect.  Throughout the nation's history the process of opening and counting the electoral college votes had normally been a ministerial, pro forma, event, but this year the event was a matter of serious concern and anything but a minsterial, pro forma ceremony because the incumbent president, Donald J. Trump, had for the first time in our history refused to conceded the election based on a claim of widespread fraud across several states.  Moreover, for the nearly nine weeks since the general election he and his supporters had tried to undo the election results in a handful of states.  Dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits had been filed by Republicans and, through a clarion claim that the presidential election had been rigged and stolen from the Republicans, diehard Trump supporters in the public, in elective office, and in the conservative media sought to undermine the legitimacy of the election results.  Donald Trump ignored the raging virus pandemic in the country that had already killed 350,000 Americans and seemed to be engaged only in playing golf and badgering Republicans to make every effort to throw out election results in several states based on unsubstantiated claims of fraud.  And then on Saturday, January 2nd Donald Trump forced an hour long call directly to the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia (Brad Raffensperger) to harangue him about Georgia's certified presidential tally and culminate with, "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state."

On Wednesday, January 6th Molly and I were ready to sit down to watch the live broadcast of the receipt, opening, and counting of the certified electoral college votes from the states.  By 11:00 AM Donald Trump's "Save America/Stop the Steal Rally" was underway near the Ellipse after Trump had tweeted weeks earlier (on December 19th),"Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, be wild!"  There were already thousands of Trump supporters at the protest rally when Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. spoke to the crowd and were followed by Rudy Guiliani (Trump's personal lawyer and formerly Mayor of New York City during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center), who said, "Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent, and if we’re wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail. Let’s have trial by combat."  Then Donald Trump, the sitting President of the United States, spoke to the assembled throng for more than an hour and said during his monologue, "Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore, and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal."  He also encouraged the assembled crowd to march on the Capitol, saying, "We want to be so respectful of everybody, including bad people. We’re going to have to fight much harder and Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us. If he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country because you’re sworn to uphold our constitution. Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you. We’re going to walk down. We’re going to walk down any one you want, but I think right here. We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong." 

At the conclusion of Donald Trump's discourse thousands of demonstrators began walking down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol in a sea of Trump flags, Tea Party flags, Q Anon signs and shirts, and American flags while Trump retreated to the White House.

Photo by Shawn Thew AP/Bloomberg from NBC 4 Washington, DC website

Photo by Ringo Chiu/AP via Getty images from NBC 4 Washington, DC website

By 1:10 PM, thousands of demonstrators arrived at the Capitol building grounds and began grappling with police at the security barriers and on the Capitol steps.  They soon became rioters storming the Capitol.

Photo by John Minchillo/AP from NBC 4 Washington, DC website

 

Photo by Julio Cortez/AP 

Photo from Reuters Pictures via Twitter

 

A joint session of Congress commenced around 1:00 PM with Vice President Pence presiding over the event.  Despite days of pressure from Donald Trump for the Vice President to exceed his constitutional authority and single handedly throw out certified elector votes from a handful of states Trump lost in November, Mr. Pence began the roll call of states amid suspence about what would actually happen when the first state on Trump's challenge list was reached.  In the days prior to Congress convening to do the official electoral college tally, 14 Senate Republicans and about 140 House Republicans had indicated they were going to object to the acceptance of electoral results from several states.  It was important to those wanting to disrupt the electoral college results that at least one Senator and one Representative combine to make any objection; otherwise any objection to an individual state's tally would fail.  The alphabetical roll call of the states began and the results from Alaska and Alabama (both won by Donald Trump) were accepted without objection and recorded.  At about 1:15 PM the state of Arizona was called and was immediately objected to by Rep. Paul Gozar of Arizona and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.  This caused the two houses to devolve into ther own chambers to debate and vote on the eligible obection.  This was very disappointing when it actually happened, but it was expected.

And then, during the debate on the Arizona objection (at about 2:15 PM) Vice President Pence was suddenly ushered out of the chamber and unexpected, confused movement in the Senate chamber ensued.  Both chambers of Congress were evacuated by Capitol Police and the Capitol building, the "People's House," was put on lockdown.  As of that moment, the narrative of this letter to you descendants had to take a differnet tone and direction. 

After the illegal breach of the security perimeter around the Capitol was accomplished, the demonstrators morphed from protest to riot and they forced their way into the Capitol building by breaking windows.  Once in, the ransacking of the interior of the building began and ultimately led to at least two deaths--a female rioter inside the Capitol was shot by a policeman and a policeman trying to defend the Capitol was hit on the head with a fire extinguisher and later died of the injury.  Others died either inside or outside the Capitol building leading to a total of five riot-related deaths as of the January 8th date of this post. 

The rioting led to significant damage and vandalism inside the Capitol.  Windows were smashed, doors were broken, at least one bust was covered with blood, offices were trashed and looted.  One man walked off with the lectern of the Speaker of the House and her gavel was reported stolen.  Trash was littered everywhere.  But the rioters were finally driven away from the Capitol grounds after the 6:00 PM curfew began being enforced by the presence of police–with the FBI and National Guard called in to assist.  The Congress returned to joint session and by early the next morning the counting of the electoral college tally was completed and Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were declared the winner of the 2020 election and will be sworn in on January 20th at noon.  As of today however, various civilian "militia" groups have said they will be in Washington to protest at the inauguration!  It remains to be seen how that will work out, but by the time this is read by you the result will be a matter of history already known to you.

Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta

Photo by Win McNamee/AP

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Photo by Olivier Douliery/AP

Photo by Leigh Ann Caldwell via Twitter.  [The round sticker is a piture of Joe Biden
 with the words "Not My President!"  The rectagular stickers say "F*** ANTIFA."]

Photo by Mike Theiler/Reuters

As you descendants should know, Molly and I lived on Capitol Hill for a year and a half in 1978-79.  We were on Maryland Ave. just off Stanton Park and a couple of blocks behind the Library of Congress and the Capitol grounds across the street.  We are quite familiar with that area from a time when I could go for a run and run up the steps of the east front of the Capitol and around the other side down the steps to run to the Lincoln Memorial and back.  I would often stop my run on the way back home to stand on the western front and look down the Mall.  One could still at the time walk into the Capitol rotunda and around the Capitol grounds.  It was indeed the "People's House" and the symbol it all represented did approach the sacred.  On January 6th, 2021 it was desecrated by demonstrators turned rioters; but more importantly when the purpose of the melee they wrought in the Capitol is understood, they turned into insurectionists.  They wanted to intimidate and threaten the Congress into throwing out enough elector votes to keep the losing candidate in power.  It was undemocratic in its purpose and, as one of their flags left littering the floor of the Capitol proclaimed,  it was treason.  Many, if not most of those who broke into the Capitol came armed with weapons of various description, includng Molotov cocktains, spikes, clubs, or they made weapons out of materials they found inside the Capitol.  They were trying to prevent the newly and duly elected executive officers of our country from assuming their office two weeks hence.

Today, January 8th, 2021, some 50 people have been arrested and charged.  Authorities are searching the mountain of photographic evidence identifying the people who stormed and ransacked the Capitol.  Many more arrests are sure to follow.  The last two days have been spent with mounting calls for the removal of Donald Trump from office.  Calls for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment are gaining support and some Republicans are speaking out in tepid support, most are not.  There have been resignations by two cabinet members and many of lower rank.  The House has drafted new articles of impeachment to submit for a vote within the next two to three days if Trump does not resign or the 25th Amendment is not invoked.

The implications of the damage that was done to our country and the serious concern that was caused among many nations of the world is only slowly being comprehended.  In the ransacking of the Capitol computers were stolen and classifed material could have been exposed.  It is not an exaggeration to say national security could have been jeopardized.  The full repercussions will take weeks if not months to uncover and analyze–and in many respects this was all foreseeable when the behavior of Donald Trump over most of the last decade is considered.  As Jeb Bush said of Trump when he was running against him in the 2016 primaries, "He's a chaos candidate and he'd be a chaos president!"  He has been exactly that and now we are left with the pieces that have to be put back together.  I hope we make it to January 20th and beyond without further violence or an outbreak of  civil war.

Finally, for the genealogical record, know that Molly and I did all we could to avoid Donald Trump rising to power .  We voted against him twice and made monetary donations to those opposed to him and his policies in 2016, 2018 and again in 2020.  We believed from day one that with Donald Trump as president things would get very ugly--sadly we were correct.  We believe history is going to be a harsh judge of Donald Trump and deservedly so, but you will know the ultimate result of that assessment, not us.

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Copyright 2021, John D. Tew

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Dear Descendants: Election Day 2020

 

Dear Descendants:

By now you know that the digital blog I wrote during the early years of the 21st Century was printed in multi-volume book form in order to preserve it and pass it on to you and others.  At least three hard-bound copies were produced and two of them were given to my sons, Jonathan and Christopher.  As I have stated in earlier posts, the blog was never intended in any way to be a political treatise or diatribe. [See, the posts dated November 9, 2016 and January 20, 2020]  The blog is a genealogy/family history blog devoted to those subjects generally and more specifically to posts about our deep American family roots.  

The above having been said, there are events that I experienced during my life that undoubtedly will be of historical significance and something you will have learned about as events of the past.  I have often wished that I had some concrete evidence such as a diary or letter by an ancestor that told me (good or bad) how he or she felt about significant events and issues.  I would be thrilled to have some definite evidence of what an ancestor believed about the enslavement of people in America at the time.  Similarly, I would like to know for sure how an ancestor reacted to the forced removal of the Cherokee people and the Trail of Tears or who an ancestor voted for in the election of 1832–Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, or maybe the Anti-Mason candidate William Wirt–and why; but I do not have answers to those kinds of questions.  So this blog occasionally posts my experience and views for my posterity so they need not wonder where I stood on issues and events of my days.

As I wrote in a post dated January 28, 2017, ". . . I should go on record as saying I am neither a registered Republican nor a registered Democrat.  I am an American whose family [your family too] on both my mother's and my father's side have been in America since 1620 and 1640 respectively.  I am invested in America!"  Today is one of the most significant days on the calendar of American life.  It is the day of the quadrennial national elections and this one pits Joseph Biden (Democrat) against Donald Trump (Republican and incumbent president) for the office of President of the United States.  I believe it to be the most important and consequential election of my life to date and as I began drafting this post at 7:00 AM I felt I had to make my choice explicit for you, my descendants, to judge.  

I voted for Joseph Biden.

Contrary to the hope I expressed in my post dated January 9, 2016, Donald Trump has not evolved and grown in office these last four years.  He has been impeached and has continued his blustering, bullying, name calling and very un-presidential ways.  But more importantly he has led an administration of corruption, incompetence, and when it comes to the handling of the COVID pandemic (of which you will undoubtedly know more about the ultimate outcome than we do as I write this) he has failed at the paramount duty of a president -- to keep the country and its residents safe.  A litany of all the ways that I believe these descriptions of Mr. Trump's performance in office are so, would be too long to post here.  Your history books will have examined and judged the validity or deficiency of my beliefs; what matters for the purpose of this post is to tell you clearly that I voted against Donald Trump for what I believe to be the sake of you, my descendants, and for the sake of a continued healthy democracy in this country.

The next several hours of this Tuesday, November 3, 2020 will probably not give us a definitive result in the presidential election because the country is so divided on the question of whether or not Mr. Trump and his party deserve another four years in office, that hundreds of lawsuits have been filed and threats have been made about contesting the results once they are in.  I sit right here, right now, refusing to believe that the American people writ large will ultimately look at the last four years and re-elect Mr. Trump and his party back into power.  I fervently hope that this proves to be true, but if not then you all will at least know where I stood and that I did what I could to prevent another four years under what I consider to be the most incompetent, self-absorbed, and self-promoting president in my life thus far.

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Image of campaign buttons from https://greencardbyinvestment.com/EB5-news/eb5-what-would-biden-trump-win-mean/

Image of man writing with feather quill pen from https://www.kissclipart.com/quill-pen-clipart-paper-quill-pen-i1r57s/

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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At This Time and in This Place (January 20, 2020)

Today is a history trifecta.  Today is the national holiday that celebrates the accomplishements and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today is also exactly three years since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States.  And today, with the release of the rules for the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump, the third impeachment trial in the history of the country is set. 

This is going to be a somewhat lengthy post.  First, however, I must quote the opening paragraph from my post of November 9, 2016 to establish why I choose to take the opportunity (for perhaps only the second time since this blog began 686 posts ago) to write about what some will undoubtedly consider a departure from genealogy into politics.

"Since the inception of this blog almost four years ago, I have assiduously avoided turning it into anything even approaching a forum for my political beliefs. This blog is, however, a genealogy and family history forum AND it is preserved in book form for my sons, descendants, and relatives; as such it occasionally delves into matters of present concern because my involvement in present day events will unavoidably become matters of family history for my descendants. [By way of example, see my blog post about my experience of the events of 9-11 here.]"

On Novemer 9, 2016 I also wrote about the results of the 2016 presidential election .  .  .

"Fifty or a hundred years or more from now this election will be distant history. We have no idea how the Trump presidency will turn out. We can only hope that it is a net positive for the great majority of Americans, who comprise a true melting pot of various people. History and results will judge the winner of this momentous election . . . and our descendants will judge us with the hindsight of decades or centuries regarding how we stood at this time and in this place.

*      *      *

They say that when a person actually assumes the awesome power and responsibility of the presidency of the United States it changes him. He has such power and responsibility that it alters his perspective and his deliberation before deciding on a course of action that will affect an entire nation. Our history is replete with examples of presidential evolution in office. For the greater good of this country we can only hope that Mr. Trump is transformed by the high office to which he will ascend and that he deliberates carefully and circumspectly as he moves forward!"

Three years after the ascent of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States, I truly regret having to say to my descendants that Mr. Trump has not, in my considered opinion, changed as a result of the awesome power and responsibility given to him by the American people.  A litany of all the actions and statements by Mr. Trump (and the party he seemingly controls so completely) that lead me to this conclusion would be too long and would serve no purpose other than to make this post appear even more political to some. Instead, I will quote Mr. Trump himself on his repeated perception of what his ascent to the presidency means to him .  .  .

"I have an Article II where I have the right to do whatever I want as President."

                                                                     - Donald J. Trump, July 23, 2019 

"More importantly, Article II allows me to do whatever I want."

                                                                     - Donald J. Trump, June 16, 2019

And so the impeachment trial of Mr. Trump will begin tomorrow -- one year to the day before the next oath of office will be taken by a President of the United States, whoever he or she might be.  We will see what the nature of that trial will actually become.  When the trial is over and a verdict is rendered, history and the American people will judge whether or not it was fair and whether or not the truth was actually pursued.  The court of public opinion and history will have the last word, but the United States Senate and the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court now have the matter before them.  They have the duty and power to make sure the trial can be viewed as a pursuit of the truth based on relevant evidence presented to prove or disprove the articles of impeachment.  The country and history will be watching -- even if the proceedings go until 1:00 AM as apparently now planned by Majority Leader McConnell.

On August 16, 2018, William H. McRaven, a retired four-star Navy Admiral and commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command who oversaw the raid that eliminated Osama bin Laden, addressed Donald Trump in print and said in part .  .  .

"Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs.

A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself.

Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.

If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be."

                                                                                       - Admiral (ret) William H. McRaven

                                                                                          The Washington Post, August 16, 2018

To my sons, my granddaughters, and whatever future descendants I might have, I want to say at this time in this place that I agree with Admiral McRaven.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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What follows are relevant excerpts from The Federalist No. 65 written by Alexander Hamilton.  They are worth reading.

"A well constituted court for the trial of impeachments, is an object not more to be desired, than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offences which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. The prosecution of them, for this reason, will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties, more or less friendly, or inimical, to the accused. In many cases, it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side, or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger, that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. 

The delicacy and magnitude of a trust, which so deeply concerns the political reputation and existence of every man engaged in the administration of public affairs, speak for themselves. The difficulty of placing it rightly in a government resting entirely on the basis of periodical elections, will as readily be perceived, when it is considered that the most conspicuous characters in it will, from that circumstance, be too often the leaders, or the tools of the most cunning or the most numerous faction; and on this account, can hardly be expected to possess the requisite neutrality towards those whose conduct may be the subject of scrutiny.

The convention, it appears, thought the senate the most fit depository of this important trust. Those who can best discern the intrinsic difficulty of the thing, will be least hasty in condemning that opinion; and will be most inclined to allow due weight to the arguments which may be supposed to have produced it.

What, it may be asked, is the true spirit of the institution itself? Is it not designed as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men? If this be the design of it, who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves? It is not disputed that the power of originating the inquiry, or, in other words, of preferring the impeachment, ought to be lodged in the hands of one branch of the legislative body: will not the reasons which indicate the propriety of this arrangement, strongly plead for an admission of the other branch of that body to a share of the inquiry? The model, from which the idea of this institution has been borrowed, pointed out that course to the convention. In Great Britain, it is the province of the house of commons to prefer the impeachment; and of the house of lords to decide upon it. Several of the state constitutions have followed the example. As well the latter, as the former, seem to have regarded the practice of impeachments, as a bridle in the hands of the legislative body upon the executive servants of the government. Is not this the true light in which it ought to be regarded?

Where else, than in the senate, could have been found a tribunal sufficiently dignified, or sufficiently independent? What other body would be likely to feel confidence enough in its own situation, to preserve, unawed and uninfluenced, the necessary impartiality between an individual accused, and the representatives of the people, his accusers?

*    *     *

[After presenting reasons why the Supreme Court should not be the place to try impeachments] These considerations seem alone sufficient to authorize a conclusion, that the supreme court would have been an improper substitute for the senate, as a court of impeachments. There remains a further consideration, which will not a little strengthen this conclusion. It is this: the punishment which may be the consequence of conviction upon impeachment, is not to terminate the chastisement of the offender. After having been sentenced to a perpetual ostracism from the esteem and confidence, and honours and emoluments of his country, he will still be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. Would it be proper that the persons who had disposed of his fame, and his most valuable rights as a citizen, in one trial, should, in another trial, for the same offence, be also the disposers of his life and his fortune? Would there not be the greatest reason to apprehend, that error, in the first sentence, would be the parent of error in the second sentence? That the strong bias of one decision, would be apt to overrule the influence of any new lights which might be brought to vary the complexion of another decision? Those who know any thing of human nature, will not hesitate to answer these questions in the affirmative; and will be at no loss to perceive, that by making the same persons judges in both cases, those who might happen to be the objects of prosecution would, in a great measure, be deprived of the double security intended them by a double trial. The loss of life and estate would often be virtually included in a sentence which, in its terms, imported nothing more than dismission from a present, and disqualification for a future office. It may be said, that the intervention of a jury, in the second instance, would obviate the danger. But juries are frequently influenced by the opinions of judges. They are sometimes induced to find special verdicts, which refer the main question to the decision of the court. Who would be willing to stake his life and his estate upon the verdict of a jury, acting under the auspices of judges who had predetermined his guilt?"

    

Experiencing History

The very crowded Federal Center SW station at dawn on the morning of January 21, 2017. 

There are few times and events that one can say with near certainty will be considered historic in the years, decades, and perhaps centuries to come.

Since this blog is as much a family history as it is a blog about topics and issues concerning genealogy more generally, I think it is worth using it occasionally to leave a record for descendants of pieces of history that I have personally participated in or observed (given that this blog is periodically reduced to book form).

Before this post is taken by some as perhaps being politically partisan, I should go on record as saying I am neither a registered Republican nor a registered Democrat. I am an American whose family on both my mother's side and my father's side have been in America since 1620 and 1640 respectively. I am invested in America!

Since moving to Washington, DC in July 1978, I have witnessed or been caught up in several events that will almost surely be historically significant for many years to come.  I have written about or referenced some of those events in this blog previously.  But a brief listing of some of the events is appropriate here. 

I personally attended two Presidential Inaugurations in Washington, DC (Reagan's 1st and George W. Bush's 1st). 

Ronald Reagan's first Inauguration in January 1981 was the warmest on record at the time -- 55 degrees.  It was the first to take place on the so-called West Front of the United States Capitol and, despite the mild weather, it was reported that 10,000 were in the crowd that observed it. Even as the inauguration speech was taking place, the nation's attention was focused on the American hostages who were in their 444th day of captivity in Iran. They were released as the new President was in the midst of his luncheon in the Capitol with Congressional leaders.  Until Donald Trump was inaugurated eight days ago, President Reagan was the oldest man to assume the office. 

The first inauguration of George W. Bush in January 2001 took place on a gray, cold, rainy, overcast day. It was reported that 300,000 people attended despite the poor weather conditions. I was among a contingent of local Boy Scouts and Scout leaders who volunteered to man hospitality tents on the Mall for bands and others assembling for the inaugural parade. 

Molly is not Catholic and neither am I, but on October 8, 1979 we spent most of the day down on the National Mall to see and listen to Pope John-Paul II (who was the first Pope to visit the White House). There were a reported 175,000 people on the Mall that day to see and hear the Pope.

On September 11, 2001, I was in a meeting at the Washington Navy Yard when the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place. [I have written an account of my personal experience of that event here on this blog.] 

Almost twelve years to the day after 9-11 (on September 16, 2013), I was in my office at the Washington Navy Yard when an alert sounded for everyone to shelter-in-place immediately. Twelve people working in the NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) headquarters building just two buildings behind our office building were murdered that day by a lone gunman. Three more people were seriously injured. 

Looking east to the Capitol from the National Mall near 3rd Street and Independence at daybreak.

The latest historic event I have personally participated in and observed took place one week ago today on Saturday, January 21, 2017. Molly and I decided we had to be there to participate in the Women's March held that day. It is reported that 500,000 or more people were there to take part. I can say that the crowd was the largest assembly of humanity Molly and I had ever been part of. I  can also say that the size of the crowd dwarfed that of the Pope's 1979 Mass on the Mall, Ronald Reagan's inauguration in January 1981, and the January 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush -- all of which I personally observed. 

When they are older and perhaps learn about these times and that March, Molly and I are both going to be proud to tell our granddaughter and her sister (who arrives in May) that we were there -- and thinking of both of them often during the event.  The March was important, huge, and now a part of our history!

We arrived early enough to claim a spot to the left of the stage set up at 3rd and Independence
right in front of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Some very clever Suffragette participants in the March.  They were standing on a low wall just behind us near an entrance to the National Museum of the American Indian (as engraved above the entrance to the top left).

The stage and earliest assembly point. We are standing to the right of the tree at left near the American Indian Museum.

On Independence Ave. looking west from the stage area in front of the American Indian Museum.

Farther up Independence Ave. west of the stage and in front of the Air & Space Museum buildings on the right. One has to realize that this in only part of the crowd. Many more people could not get onto Independence Ave. or near the stage area and were on Constitution Ave. to the right on the other side of the National Mall from the Air & Space Museum -- as the next photo shows.

Marchers on Constitution Ave. on the other side of the Mall from Independence Ave. Participants first started assembling on Independence Ave. and are still over there waiting to be able to march onto Constitution Ave. west toward the White House.

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All photographs by the author except the aerial photos of the stage area and the crowd in front of the Air & Space museum which are marked "VOA" in the lower right.  VOA is the Voice of America, whose offices are directly across Independence Ave. from the National Museum of the American Indian from where we stood. We observed many people on the roof of the VOA building taking aerial shots such as these.  VOA is a U.S. Government-funded agency and is the official external broadcasting institution of the United States.  Also the photo of the marchers going west on Constitution Ave. is by Joeff Davis from http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/01/23/the-crowds-that-mattered-womens-march/

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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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The Momentous Presidential Election of 2016 (November 9, 2016)

Since the inception of this blog almost four years ago, I have assiduously avoided turning it into anything even approaching a forum for my political beliefs. This blog is, however, a genealogy and family history forum AND it is preserved in book form for my sons, descendants, and relatives; as such it occasionally delves into matters of present concern because my involvement in present day events will unavoidably become matters of family history for my descendants. [By way of example, see my blog post about my experience of the events of 9-11 here.]

And so this brings me to the historic events of yesterday, November 8, 2016, when Donald J. Trump became our President-elect and soon-to-be 45th President.

I emphatically did not want Mr. Trump to become our President. I contributed, organized, advertised, volunteered, and voted to try to prevent it from happening. But Mr. Trump won in the electoral college and so he (by his own words) will not contest what he repeatedly called a "rigged" election. . . and neither can we or should we. We must have a peaceful transition of power if we are to preserve our democracy and our country.

It was a hellish campaign. The absolute worst of my lifetime. And we as a nation are going to have to reconcile to it and live through the repercussions -- indeed the entire world will have to. Donald J. Trump will be our President for at least the next four years.

Fifty or a hundred years or more from now this election will be distant history. We have no idea how the Trump presidency will turn out. We can only hope that it is a net positive for the great majority of Americans, who comprise a true melting pot of various people. History and results will judge the winner of this momentous election . . . and our descendants will judge us with the hindsight of decades or centuries regarding how we stood at this time and in this place.

I write this post to go into the book version of my blog in order to make it clear for my descendants that I stood against Mr. Trump and tried my best to prevent him from becoming President of the United States. Those who supported Mr. Trump will have to own their decision too . . . and perhaps have to explain to their descendants.

They say that when a person actually assumes the awesome power and responsibility of the presidency of the United States it changes him. He has such power and responsibility that it alters his perspective and his deliberation before deciding on a course of action that will affect an entire nation. Our history is replete with examples of presidential evolution in office. For the greater good of this country we can only hope that Mr. Trump is transformed by the high office to which he will ascend and that he deliberates carefully and circumspectly as he moves forward!

Finally, for those of you who are frantic about the results of yesterday's election, I highly recommend you read the post by Tim Urban at Wait But Why blog. It is titled "It's Going to Be Okay."  

[I should note that Tim Urban's piece does contain some words that many readers might consider profane or vulgar, but I must -- in all fairness -- mention that the words are no worse than language that our President-elect used publicly before tens of thousands of Americans over the last year or more and that were broadcast over our radio and TV airwaves.] 

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The photograph of the parachutist with the American flag was taken by the author.

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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40 Years Later -- A Genealogy Factoid For My Descendants (September 23, 2016)

Since this blog is as much a family history as it is a blog focused on more generic genealogy matters, and since the blog is gradually being reproduced in book form for my sons and other descendants,  I often include posts that are more personal history than "genealogy." The reason being that personal events from our family's lives will become "genealogy factoids" to enrich the understanding of us for our future descendants and relatives. As I have written before, these bits of personal information that I call "genealogy factoids" are "little bits of information that were important in the lives of [family members], but they are not the kind of facts that are likely to be found in some public document or record in the future -- the kind of document records generally accorded the status of primary sources." [See, this post for my original thoughts on the role of genealogy factoids in family histories and on genealogy-related blogs  http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/search/label/Genealogy%20Factoids]

This post is one of those genealogy factoid pieces that recounts events that will soon be lost to future generations if not recorded and preserved in some manner.  This genealogy factoid is admittedly lengthy and is being published first in blog form, but will eventually be reproduced in hard copy in one of the book volumes that preserves this blog against the loss or demise of the electronic version. 

Forty years ago last month, the closing ceremonies of the 21st Olympiad took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada -- almost exactly three weeks to the day before Molly and I were married. We attended the Olympics in Montreal and had not been back until just a couple of weeks ago . . . which accounts for the hiatus from posting on this blog for the almost three weeks we were gone.

Shown above are the original Guide we obtained for the Montreal Olympics and the summary schedule of the times and locations for the various competitions. "Athletics" on the schedule is what we generally call "track and field events" and, as a long-time competitive runner, I had a particular interest in those  events.

The 1976 summer Olympics was the one where: Bruce Jenner won the decathlon with a record-setting 8,634 points; Nadia Comaneci became the first person ever to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics; runner Lasse Viren of Finland repeated for the first time gold medal performances in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races; Alberto Juantorena of Cuba became the first man ever to win both the 400 and 800 meter races in an Olympics; five American boxers (Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon and Michael Spinks, Leo Randolph, and Howard Davis, Jr.) won gold; the U.S. men's swim team won every gold but one and Jim Naber himself won four golds and a silver; American hurdler Edwin Moses set a world record in the 400 meter hurdles less than a year after he first took up the event; and John Walker of New Zealand, the first man to run the mile under 3:50, won the 1,500 meter race.

The Montreal Olympics was the first summer Olympics after the 1972 tragedy in Munich when eleven members of the Israeli team were taken hostage by the Palestinian Black September terrorists and executed. All eyes were on Montreal hoping for a return to peaceful, non-political competitions. Two major issues presented themselves as the Olympics approached. One was whether or not there would be a timely completion of the various competition venues along with the debt that was being incurred to stage the first Olympic games located in Canada.  The other was the boycott of the 1976 Olympics by 29 mostly African nations to protest the decision not to ban New Zealand from the games due to the New Zealand rugby team's tour of South Africa contrary to the U.N. sporting embargo call against South Africa.

As construction on the Olympic sites proceeded, it became obvious that the preparations were running behind schedule and the Province of Quebec finally stepped in and took over the construction. It was decided that certain aspects of the construction would be limited or halted so that only what was necessary to stage the games would be completed.  As a result, the tower at the Olympic stadium, which was designed to raise and lower a retractable roof was stopped and never completed until after the games were over. And although the mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, said "The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby" . . . the staging of the games left a debt of $1 billion and the Province of Quebec told Montreal it was responsible for paying off the debt.  It took Montreal over thirty years to eliminate the debt.

In 1976 my entire family drove from New Jersey to Montreal -- my parents, my two brothers, my sister and I. My sister had her future husband with her, the older of my two brothers had his future wife with him, and Molly was with me. The younger of my two brothers was only 15 at the time and he was solo and probably feeling somewhat left out. We stopped at the summer home of Molly's parents on Lake Placid both going to and coming home from the Olympics. It was a major event and a highlight of our family cohesion before we went off to form families of our own. We traveled north from New Jersey with a camper, two cars, tents, and a dining fly and set up our Olympics camp at a very comfortable campgrounds within easy distance of bus and Metro routes into Montreal and the Olympic sites.

Our campsite for the Montreal Olympics -- two Ford Pintos, a Chevy truck with a camper body, tents and a dining fly.

Most of the family -- my younger brother, my other brother's future wife, my sister's future husband, my parents, and Molly in the blue skirt with me in the yellow t-shirt.

During the Olympics, Molly and I were up early every day and off to see various events immediately after a quick breakfast.  We usually did not return until after dark and we made maximum use of the Metro (subway) and busses to see as much of the games and the city as we could manage.  When we did not both have tickets for an event, we hung around outside the venue until folks who had purchased excess tickets dropped the price to or below actual cost in order to not lose their entire investment.  We saw several extra events this way.  We visited the site of the Expo '67 world's fair on an island in the Saint Lawrence river that we heard was created using the slag and tailings from the construction of the subway system. We had a few very nice meals including a wonderful alfresco lunch at Place Jacques-Cartier, a car-free square down by the Old Port of Montreal.

We had not been back to Montreal in over 40 years when we decided to visit again as we celebrated our 40th anniversary this summer. When we returned to Montreal a few weeks ago, we sought out some of the locations we remembered from the Olympics 40 years ago and we explored some new parts of the city. Below are some "then and now" photographs.

My parents on a bench overlooking the Velodrome (center left) and the  Olympic stadium showing the lower part of the unfinished stadium tower to the right (1976).

The Olympic stadium during the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

A view of the incomplete stadium tower with the stadium in the background during the Olympics  (July 1976).

A view of the stadium with completed tower and the Center for Sports Medicine (Sept. 2016).

Close up of the stadium tower showing men doing periodic repairs and illustrating the scale of the stadium and tower (Sept. 2016)

View of the former Velodrome where cycling events took place with the stadium tower in the background.  The Velodrome is now called the BioDome and has 7 different environmental ecosystems inside with appropriate animals.  The right side of the stadium tower has a funicular car that you can ride up to the top. (Sept. 2016)

When we re-visited the Olympic stadium campus, we decided to pay for a tour of the stadium where we had viewed so many competitive events in 1976.  It was very interesting to see the inner sanctums of the stadium, to see some future Canadian olympians practicing their diving, and to actually stand on the floor of the mammoth stadium interior where so many memorable and historic performances had occurred in 1976.

The Olympic stadium while track and field events are underway in 1976.  The Jumbotron scoreboard is showing one of the pole vault competitors.  Notice the open top of the stadium, which was incomplete during the games since the retractable roof had to be abandoned to divert efforts to absolutely necessary construction.   

The Olympic stadium during the running events.  The Jumbotron actually indicates participants in the Marathon, but it is unknown at this point if the runners on the track are starting the marathon or if it is some other running competition and the Jumbotron is merely showing the current status of the marathon run.

Inside the completed and mammoth stadium.  Notice that a roof is now in place and after having to replace and repair the retractable roof post-Olympics, the roof is now a permanent roof of Kevlar and carbon composite. (Sept. 2016)

This is me thrilled to be standing on the floor of the stadium where so many running and other events took place 40 years earlier. It is hard to grasp the scale of this building from this snapshot, but it is truly enormous.  To give some idea of its scale, look at the three small lights immediately to the left of the three large lights near the roof and above my head.  The three small lights are in what are skyboxes or rooms for commentators and are probably 8 to ten feet high inside!

Inside the swimming venue that is part of the stadium complex.  The pool was being cleaned and maintained and the foreground part of the pool floor has been raised to allow the work. Notice the ladder sticking out of the pool floor in the fourth lane from the left. This is the pool where the U.S. men's team won every gold medal but one and Jim Naber won four golds and one silver! The diving pool is the blue area seen in the distance (Sept. 2016). 

The 3, 5, 7.5, and 10 meter diving platforms in the diving pool portion of the stadium complex.  Young divers -- said to be some of Canada's future olympians -- were practicing off the 5 meter platform and you can see the small splash in the pool from one of the divers (Sept. 2016).

This is a practice area to the right side of the diving pool as one faces the platforms. The young woman is practicing some complicated dives with tucks, twists, and pike positions.  Notice that she is wearing a belt around her waist that is tied to the black lines going up to the ceiling.  Her coach has control of the lines from the side of the pool just out of sight to her left and he can pull her out of any real mistakes in the dive that might result in injury (Sept. 2016).

During our return to Montreal, we also ventured out to the island where Expo '67 took place and that was repurposed as "Man and His World." The 1967 world's fair, called Expo '67, was so popular that rather than raze all the buildings, it was kept as a collection of international pavilions and renamed "Man and His World" ("Terre des Hommes" in French) until the buildings fell into disrepair. In 1971 it was closed for three years and completely rebuilt around what would be the rowing and canoeing basin for the coming Olympics with a few pavilions left after some were demolished to make room for the Olympic rowing basin, boathouses and changing rooms. The U.S. pavilion was a huge geodesic dome (200 feet high and 250 feet in diameter) designed by Buckminster Fuller with an outer skin and interior that housed four platforms with seven exhibit levels.  Just two months before the Olympics opened, a fire burned away the outer skin leaving only the geodesic frame and the interior platforms. The former pavilion site was closed until 1990 and has become what is now known as the "Biosphere," an interactive environmental museum. By the late 1970s the pavilions at the site had become so dilapidated that is was said to resemble the ruins of a futuristic city that had been abandoned and vandalized.  The site closed permanently in 1984 and in subsequent years the interlocking forms that were the "Habitat 67" pavilion became private residences owned by its tenants. The former French and Quebec pavilions are now the Montreal Casino.   

Close up from the street level of the former Habitat 67 (Sept. 2008).

Panorama of the former Habitat 67 as seen from the port of Montreal (April 2006).

The former U.S. pavilion at Expo '67 showing the geodesic structure and the exhibit platforms after the burning of the outer skin. It is now an environmental museum known as the "Biosphere" (Sept. 2016).

Molly standing before the Biosphere (Sept. 2016).

After visiting the Biosphere, we crossed the bridge to see the former Olympic rowing basin where we had watched several events during the 1976 games. We soon discovered that several different triathlon events were taking place and we stayed for a few hours to watch.  Like many former Olympic sites the basin has been repurposed and is used extensively for sporting events.

Observation tower at the former Olympic basin showing the logo for the 1976 Montreal Olympics (Sept. 2016)

Looking down the length of the former Olympic rowing basin with stands shown to the right. During the long distance events, the rowing and canoeing competitors would disappear from sight in the distance and one would not know the standings until they appeared during the return lap (Sept. 2016).

The former Olympic basin where triathlons were being hosted during our visit.  The finish line is shown in the distance and the stands and observation tower are to the left (Sept. 2016).

During the Olympics, we decided we had to see the Olympic Village where the athletes were housed during the games. In 1998 the buildings were bought by Metcap Living, Inc. for $64.7 million. In 2004 El-Ad Group bought the buildings and they were reportedly sold in August 2012 for $177.5 million.  They are now private residences. Below are photos of the Village as we saw them in 1976 and a more recent photo from 2008.

My mother standing by a fire hydrant with the Olympic Village in the background (July 1976)

A close-up with a street level view of the Olympic Village (July 1976).

Aerial view of the former Olympic Village as of September 14, 2008.

Of course we had to visit some of the restaurants in Montreal and so we ventured back to Place Jacques-Cartier where we recalled having a wonderful alfresco lunch 40 years ago during a break from the Olympics to visit downtown Montreal. The statue of Lord Nelson is still on his pedestal at the top of the sloping, stone-tiled square, but it was all scaffolded and undergoing repairs. The square looked much as it did decades ago with restaurants and outdoor eating down both sides to the port. We had another very enjoyable alfresco meal on a side street just off the Place Jacques-Cartier.

Statue of Lord Nelson undergoing repairs at the top of Place Jacques-Cartier (Sept. 2016)

Place Jacques-Cartier looking down toward the port from the statue of Lord Nelson (Sept. 2016).

The side street where we decided to have lunch alfresco (Sept. 2016).

Overlooking Montreal from the top of Parc du Mont Royal.  Note the Biosphere in the middle distance (Sept. 2016).

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All images from original photos or materials owned by and in the collection of the author except: the 1976 Montreal Olympic logo obtained from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1976_Summer_Olympics_logo.png and is said to be in the public domain; the images of the former Habitat 67 housing complex for which general permission to copy, distribute and/or modify has been granted by the creators https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montreal_-_QC_-_Habitat67.jpg  and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Habitat_panorama.jpg; and the September 2008 image of the Olympic Village for which general permission to copy, distribute and/or modify has been granted by the creator https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montreal_-_QC_-_Olympisches_Dorf.jpg.

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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