Quan M 🌱
Tony Masiello 
☮Today marks the anniversary of the inauguration of John Adams in 1797. This occasion marked the first peaceful transition of power between heads of state. A cornerstone in the great experiment of democracy. (1/n)
In a letter to his wife the next day, Adams wrote:
"In the Chamber of the House of Representatives, was a Multitude as great as the Space could contain, and I believe Scarcely a dry Eye but Washingtons. The Sight of the Sun Setting full orbut and another rising tho less Splendid, was a novelty." (2/n)
When we took a tour of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, we sat in the room where this ceremony took place. The park ranger told us that the crowd that Adams described came to see if this peaceful transition of power would indeed, really take place. A novelty, indeed!
We should not take for granted how novel this is, how fortunate citizens of the USA have been to see this preserved, and how easily it could be lost. (3/3)