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‘A moment in American history’

Wantagh-Seaford leaders prepare for presidential inauguration

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Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney met President-elect Donald Trump in New York City in December.
Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney met President-elect Donald Trump in New York City in December.
Courtesy Erin King Sweeney

U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Seaford, has attended every presidential inauguration since Richard Nixon was sworn in for his second term in 1973. But this week, King said that he expected the 2017 ceremonial transition of power from President Barack Obama — the first African-American to hold America’s highest office — to Donald Trump — a New York businessman and the first person elected president with no government or military experience — would be unlike any other.

“He’s really different from any president we’ve ever had — coming from the outside, running an unconventional campaign as really such a celebrity and winning the presidency against all odds,” King said of Trump. “It’s a moment in American history.” 

King is one of several Wantagh-Seaford residents who planned to attend the inauguration on Jan. 20. Locals who are members of the Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums were also invited to participate in the festivities. 

Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, King’s daughter, told the Herald before the event that she would have a bird’s eye view of the ceremony at the Capitol. Sweeney, a Wantagh resident who has attended every presidential inauguration since Bill Clinton’s, will watch the ceremony from the window of her father’s office in the Cannon Building with her family.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said. “Trump, like so many of our other presidents, will leave his unique stamp at the inaugural ceremony. It almost takes on a cultural theme, because every administration is different.”

Like her father, Sweeney felt it was important to bring her children to presidential inaugurations. He invited Erin to the ceremony when she was 19, he said, because that it’s important for citizens of all ages to bear witness to and appreciate the American democratic process.

“We are the world’s first great democracy, and it is a great celebration of America,” he said of presidential inauguration ceremonies. “This year, it’s more emotional if you’re a Republican, but being at Clinton and Obama’s inaugurations was very moving as well. It’s all part of American history.”

Fred Parola, the leader of the Wantagh Republican Club since 1972, said that attending the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan was exciting. Although he cannot attend this week’s ceremony, Parola said he expected it to be a transformative event because Republicans will hold the executive office and majorities in both houses of Congress.

“He’s a doer,” he said of Trump. “Whether you agree with him or not, he will overturn and alter the system dramatically.”

Parola said he also expected many people to congregate in Washington to “protest in fear of policies that won’t be to their benefit.” He added that he hoped that demonstrators would not incite violence in Washington on Inauguration Day.

Sweeney, however, said that she thinks there will be a surprising amount of unity and bipartisanship at the ceremony. King said he wished for the same, particularly after what he described as a divisive, rough campaign season.

“I’m hoping majesty of the ceremony brings America together and that the country will be united for at least a brief period of time for the new president to try to lay out his program and try to go forward,” King said. “I was not an early supporter of Donald Trump — I didn’t endorse him until May — but I was strongly for him in the general election and continue to support him. He has the chance to take the country in new direction.”

King, who met with Trump in New York City in December to discuss matters of homeland security, said that he expects the new president to move quickly to “replace [the Affordable Care Act] with a new health care plan” and take aggressive action against terrorism domestically and internationally. The longtime congressman noted that he was also impressed by the “sound, powerful people” that the president chose for cabinet positions — including retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, the new homeland security director, and former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, whom King helped prepare for his Senate confirmation hearings.

King said that he also appreciated that Trump supports firefighters and police officers, adding that he was especially proud that some of Long Island’s own would be participating in the Jan. 20 celebrations in Washington. The Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums was invited to play in the inaugural parade about a month ago.

Alan Jacoby, a Wantagh resident and former member of the Uniondale Fire Department, has managed the band since 2010. He said that members applied to participate in the parade months before Election Day. Their Inauguration Day performance will mark the second time that several musicians have played for a president; in 2004, the band performed at the unveiling of the Sept. 11 memorial in Eisenhower Park, which then President George W. Bush attended. 

The 45 firefighter-musicians from across Nassau County have been busy rehearsing a patriotic set list at the East Meadow Fire Department, preparing for security checks and raising funds to offset travel expenses. Jacoby said that while the band is politically divided, members are honored to march.

“It doesn’t matter who the president is — it’s not about politics,” he said. “We were excited to do this no matter the [election] outcome. We want to make who we represent — the fire service and our communities — proud.”