Published January 1965 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. 20510 Volume V -- Number 4 January 22, 1965 Byrd's Eye View A Public Service Column by Senator Robert C. Byrd INAUGURAL ATTIRE The January 20, 1965, inauguration of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36tll President of the United States, provided some new chapters in the colorful history of male attire for the inauguration of American Presidents. The high excitement generated by his economical wearing of a not-new business suit for his inaugural ceremonies has been widely chronicled. However, on Wednesday, still another record was set--Capitol Plaza in Washington, D. C., was jammed with what is believed to have been the largest crowd ever to have assembled there, and a view of the Plaza from the inaugural podium showed it to be literally a-wash with Stetson hats-- ten-gallon masculine Texan style. This was not the first time hats have figured prominently in inaugural ceremonies. At his first inauguration, President Abraham Lincoln appeared on' the platform, stiff uncomfortable, plainly embarrassed by the unaccustomed gorgeousness of his wardrobe. Included in his Presidential attire were a new silk hat and a heavy gold-headed cane. He managed early to rid himself of the cane, but the disposal of the silk topper left him stumped. He could not stay covered before the crowds, so that he awkwardly stood, at the moment of the oath-taking, searching for a safe repository for his topper. From behind him stepped Senator Stephen A. Douglas, his old political enemy. Having seen Lincoln's embarrassment, he quietly removed the topper from his hand and carefully held it while the President delivered his inaugural address. As a result of the Lincoln hat episode, it became tradition to watch the Presidential handling of hats. Newspapers dated March 4, 1881, stated that at the inauguration of James A. Garfield, the last of the so-called Log Cabin Presidents, "General Garfield handled his stovepipe hat with skill!" President George Washington, among other lists," was first in setting a standard of sartorial elegance for American Presidents. On March 4, 1792, for his second inauguration, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, he was attired in a “full suit of rich black velvet, the short clothes ornamented with diamond knee-buckles. He wore black silk stockings, and his shoes • • • were surmounted with large, square silver buckles. In his hand, he carried a plain cocked hat, decorated with the American cockade. His hair, powdered, was gathered into a black silk bag, on which was a bow of black ribbon. He wore a light dress sword with green scabbard and a richly ornamented belt.” However, President Thomas Jefferson is given honors as having been the most stylishly dressed of all the Presidents on the occasion of his oath-taking. On March 4, 1801, the tall Virginian gave on-lookers a good view of his inaugural clothing, leaving his boarding house on New Jersey Avenue to walk, accompanied by a few friends, to the Senate Chamber of the Capitol. He wore a “handsome blue coat with brass buttons, green homespun breeches, yarn stockings and shoes tied with leather strings.” But the most resplendent clothing worn by any American President for an inaugural event is believed to be that worn by President James Buchanan at his inaugural ball on the evening of March 4, 1857. He appeared in a Lancaster suit of black satin, which was made by an artistic tailor from his home town in Pennsylvania. On the lining of this suit were embroidered the coats-of-arms of the 32 States then in the Union. Interestingly, James Madison used the occasion of his oath taking to give a stimulus to a budding American industry. He carefully chose a suit made from the wool of American sheep end called attention to this attire as a "walking argument in favor of the encouragement of native wool.” Perhaps his action provided President Johnson with a precedence for the practicality which he displayed in choosing his own inaugural attire. - 30 -