http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/15/AR2008121502937.html
オバマ次期大統領の就任式（１月２０日）の準備は着々と進んでいます。
どんな就任演説をするかが注目されています。リンカーン、ケネディの
ような名演説を残すでしょう。
就任式にはイリノイ州からワシントンまで、汽車に乗って行くのはリン
カーンの例を踏襲しています。（ふしゅうではありません）
ワシントンまで１０１回も演説したそうですが、出発の朝、列車の最後
尾で行なった演説は、最も有名で、４年後の死を予感したような悲哀に
満ちたものと言います。
オバマは、ほぼ同じルートで３日かけてワシントンに到着する予定で、
到着日は148年前のリンカーンと同じ日です。
リンカーンと同じように、暗殺の危険性は非常に高く、沿線の警察は護
衛に頭を悩ませているそうです。
Like Lincoln, Obama Will Ride the Rails To D.C.
Washington Post
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Barack Obama has evoked Abraham Lincoln ever since
launching his campaign at the Old State Capitol in
Springfield, Ill. Now he plans to arrive in Washington
the same way that Lincoln did in 1861, with a train
trip that will include stops, speeches and crowds
along the way.
On Jan. 17, Obama and his family will start the day
with an appearance in Philadelphia, where they will
board a chartered Amtrak train. The train will stop in
Wilmington, Del., where the Obamas will be joined by
Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. Then comes
a stop in Baltimore before the group's arrival that
evening in Washington.
"He's replicating the last leg of Lincoln's inaugural
journey to Washington," said historian Harold Holzer,
author of "Lincoln President Elect: Abraham Lincoln
and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861." "This
guy's reverence for Lincoln has no bounds."
Lincoln had left his home in Springfield on Feb.
11, 1861, for a 12-day journey east to Washington,
during which he made 101 speeches. Philadelphia
and Baltimore were his last stops before the nation's
capital.
Obama's plans, announced by his Presidential
Inaugural Committee, set the tone for the many
activities leading to the swearing-in at noon Jan.
20 at the Capitol. The official Washington events
are scheduled to begin Jan. 18, most likely with
a large-scale event on the Mall in which Obama makes
an appearance.
Details about the Washington events, as well as
those in other cities, have not been made public.
Even as they scrambled for information, officials in
the other locations celebrated the news.
"The mayor is elated," said Ian Brennan, a spokesman
for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. "It presents a
tremendous opportunity . . . considering that there
are people who can't make it down to D.C. on the
day" of the inauguration.
M&T Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards would
be ideal for mass gatherings, as would Fort McHenry,
where the city honored Olympic swimming champion
Michael Phelps in October, Brennan said, later adding
that law enforcement officials are expecting "upwards
of 150,000" to turn out.
Baltimore's hotels already were heavily booked
because of the city's proximity to the District, where
record crowds are projected for Inauguration Day.
Baltimore's law enforcement officers and emergency
responders were told awhile back that all must work
Jan. 20.
Now, the city has another challenge. "We're going to
need the police, traffic control staff -- the whole
nine yards," Brennan said.
Wilmington officials expressed their excitement, too.
During the campaign, Biden frequently noted that he
commuted daily from his home in Delaware to his Senate
job in Washington via Amtrak. But on this trip, he
will hardly be an average Joe.
In February, Wilmington had the largest gathering
that city officials could remember when Obama appeared
at a campaign rally in the town square. "More than
20,000 people from throughout the region welcomed
then-Senator Obama for what was a watershed moment
in the campaign," Mayor James M. Baker said in a
statement yesterday.
By stopping in Wilmington, Obama might be evoking
Biden more than Lincoln, who did not make a stop
there.
The last leg of Lincoln's trip began in Philadelphia.
He was greeted with a fireworks display and spoke
outside Independence Hall, where he declared: "I would
rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it."
He was also photographed there -- the first-ever
photograph of a president-elect, Holzer said.
From Philadelphia, Lincoln's journey took him to
Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital, back
to Philadelphia, then on to Baltimore and Washington.
Holzer noted that in Lincoln's day railroad travel
was state of the art.
Although there were reports of an assassination plot
in Baltimore, Holzer said Lincoln's sleeping car was
drawn by horses from one station in Baltimore to
another without incident. Lincoln was ridiculed by
the media,however, for "sneaking" through Baltimore,
and false reports circulated that he had disguised
himself in a military cloak and tam, or was hiding
in his luggage.
Yale historian David Blight, who suggested last month
that Obama retrace Lincoln's inaugural train trip,
said: "I think it's a great idea. . . . I'm amazed they're going to do it."
He noted that American history is filled with images
of whistle-stop presidential candidates speaking
from the back of train cars.
"In Lincoln's case, he had to sneak into Washington,"
Blight said. "In this case, Obama can come in
triumph, one would assume."