Presidents and God: Religion’s role in inauguration

John F. Kennedy Shakes hands with Father Richard J. Casey after attending Mass at Holy Trinity Church. (Courtesy Library of Congress)
Every president since Theodore Roosevelt has left his signature in St. John's Episcopal Church's President's Pen book. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The President's Pen book is held in the church's archives for safe keeping. Given the signatures inside, one can understand why. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Alice Roosevelt Longworth signed the President's Pen book for her father, President Theodore Roosevelt. Below, President Woodrow Wilson's name is signed by his wife Edith Bolling WIlson. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Both presidents Bush and Obama attended service at St. John's on their inauguration days. President Bill Clinton chose to attend services at Metropolitan AME Church. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Inside St. John's Episcopal Church, which will host President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Inauguration Day 2013. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
St. John's executive director Hayden Bryan sits in the church's front parlor. St. John's was built from 1815 to 1816. Next door, the former clerk of the House of Representatives Matthew St. Clair Clarke built a home in 1837, but he went bankrupt doing it. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The house, now attached to the church, was once leased by William Wilson Corcoran and lived in by Lord Ashburton while negotiating the Webster-Ashburton treaty. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Bryan sits in the President's Pew to show where it is located in the nave. The pew was chosen by the vestry committee of the church for President James Madison shortly after it was built. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Fingerprints tend to smudge the brass placard identifying the President's Pew which has been visited by each sitting president since James Madison. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The kneeling pillows in the President's Pew. The tradition is for each president to kneel on James Madison's pillow since he was the pew's original "owner." (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Known as ''Lincoln's Pew,'' it's the last seat in the back of the church's southeast corner. This is where President Lincoln was known to sneak in for evening prayer during the Civil War, cramming his 6-foot-5-inch frame into the small space as not to disturb the on-going service. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The sign identifying ''Lincoln's Pew'' says the ''President would arrive quietly and leave before the service ended to walk back to the White House.'' (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The house, now attached to St. John's, was once leased by William Wilson Corcoran and lived in by Lord Ashburton for 10 months while he negotiated the Webster-Ashburton treaty. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
On Monday, preparations were underway in and around the National Cathedral in anticipation of the Inaugural Prayer Service on Jan. 22. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
President Lincoln's statue inside the National Cathedral sits beneath a window designed to reflect the colors of the Civil War. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Cathedral planners chose to incorporate ''Lincoln's bay'' into the design of the nave because he unified the country. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Looking into President ''Washington's bay'' at the National Cathedral where the stained glass window above him portrays a tree growing out of fire. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
President Washington's gaze seems to fall on the wall in front of him, but if a visitor stands next to the statue, he or she will see a narrow window that designers meant for only Washington to see. The window was designed to represent the attributes of Washington's mother and wife Martha. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
President Woodrow Wilson's tomb sits in the National Cathedral. Wilson was originally interred in the bottom level in the Bethlehem Chapel, but he was moved in 1956 to the Wilson Memorial Bay in the main cathedral. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The presidential seal is carved into the front of President Wilson's tomb facing the nave. It is flanked by the seals of Princeton University and the state of New Jersey, where Wilson went to school and where he served as governor. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
Wilson is the only president buried in Washington, D.C. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
The first inaugural address was given in 1793 by George Washington upon the start of his second term during a ceremony in Philadelphia. It was only 135 words, the shortest in history, according to inaugural.senate.gov. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
(1/23)

Megan Cloherty, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – The separation of church and state is unique to American democracy, but when it comes to celebrating the start of a president’s term, God has played a role in nearly every inauguration since George Washington.

President Barack Obama’s second swearing-in will be no different.

Incorporating religion into the ritual of the day started with the first inauguration in 1789, when Washington attended a service at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City following his swearing-in.

While every president from then on chose to worship privately, almost all have placed their hand on a Bible when taking the oath of office on Inauguration Day.

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Northwest D.C. has had a front seat to the ceremony surrounding America’s top office. Every president since James Madison has visited St. John’s for services partly due to its location across from the White House. And so St. John’s has become known as the “Church of Presidents.”

People buzz in and out of the bright yellow and white church like bumble bees as St. John’s prepares to host Obama for a prayer service the morning of his second inauguration. The church has held services for six presidents on their inauguration days.

“(Roosevelt) started the modern tradition in 1933. We also did one for Harry Truman. We did two for Ronald Reagan, one for George H.W. Bush, two for George W. Bush and two for Obama. This will be our 11th,” says Hayden Bryan, executive director of operations for St. Johns.

While the 8:45 a.m. prayer service will not be different than a normal morning prayer service, Bryan says every detail is being scrutinized. The event requires tickets, and along with the president and vice president, other dignitaries are expected to attend, so security is top of mind.

During the interview with WTOP, Secret Service officers swept through the small church’s hallways, pointing indiscriminately at windows and stairwells. The Secret Service is paying extra attention to the location, but Bryan points out that Obama has been known to walk through the church’s doors multiple times a year.

The church has a prized President’s Pen book, in which every commander in chief since President Theodore Roosevelt has left his signature. The book also holds some guest names including presidential family members and vice presidents. (See gallery).

Before they sign the book, every president sits in the President’s Pew, chosen by the church for James Madison.

“When the church was built, they rented the pews to people — that’s how they got their money to pay the clergy and maintain the building,” Hayden says. “They thought they’d give the president first choice of a pew, so they formed a committee of the vestry and sent a letter from that committee to President Madison. Madison wrote back and said, ‘You pick one for me.’ So, they picked one in the church that was what they considered prime real estate at the time. And that’s where the presidents have been sitting ever since.”

That pew is not up front. In fact, it’s in the middle of the nave. “People are surprised that the President’s Pew is not in some special location. It’s with the congregation,” Hayden says.

It’s part of the appeal of the church — that a citizen can worship next to the president.

While the president’s service on Inauguration Day is traditionally private, the following day is decidedly not. Since Reagan’s first term, every president except Bill Clinton has visited the National Cathedral the day after his inauguration to take part in an Inaugural Prayer Service.

The National Cathedral service for Obama’s second term will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 22.

“It’ll be an interfaith service, recognizing the diversity of faith traditions in America. So there will be faith leaders from across the country participating, and there will also be musical performances as part of the service,” says National Cathedral spokesman Richard Weinberg.

The cathedral pays homage to several past presidents in its architecture and design. Walking inside the front doors toward the nave, “Lincoln’s bay” is located to the visitor’s left. The 16th president’s statue stands beneath a stained glass window designed to represent the Civil War with its Confederate gray and Union blue coloring.

On the visitor’s right stands a statue of Washington. The statue is positioned underneath a window, which represents the sentiments of a soldier walking home from war. In writings, the soldier noted sapling trees sprouting from the ashes of battle. The window’s design portrays a tree growing out of fire.

The National Cathedral is also the final resting place of Wilson, who is the only president buried in Washington, D.C.

The incorporation of religion into the inauguration was recognized by the cathedral’s planners, who chose to have the first inaugural address in 1793 chiseled into the wall near Wilson’s tomb.

Weinberg acknowledges the cathedral has come to play an important role in the nation’s political history.

“The National Cathedral serves as a kind of spiritual home for the nation, and that’s not something that’s official. We do not have a formal relationship with the U.S. government, but it’s what we’ve done through history, and this role we have inherited through the tradition of what’s happened in this building before,” Weinberg says.

The Inaugural Prayer Service also requires tickets, but it will be simulcast on C- SPAN and streamed online. Visitors to the cathedral can leave their thoughts and prayers for the nation as part of an exhibit set up at the cathedral as well as light a virtual candle and leave their thoughts online. See the sentiments left so far on the cathedral’s prayer board.

There is also an exhibit called “Presidents at the Cathedral,” which chronicles past visits by U.S. presidents over the cathedral’s 105-year history.

A clip of President Obama’s National Prayer Service Jan. 21, 2009

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(Copyright 2013 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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