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From inaugural fashion to Donald Trump’s first day in office, here’s a look at news coverage of the 2017 presidential inauguration.
Only two things in life are certain – death and taxes – but Americans can feel fairly confident that crowd size will be a topic of conversation after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday.
The Republican returnee president-to-be has a history of touting the attendance of his rallies and admonishing political foes for comparatively lackluster crowd sizes. Crowd size was even the topic of heated debate after his last inauguration.
A view of the crowd at the U.S. Capitol ahead of the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2017. (Photo by Bill O’Leary /The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Can Trump expect more inaugural attendees for his return to office? And how did his 2017 crowd size compare with other recent presidents' inaugurations?
JUMP TO: PAST INAUGURATION CROWD ESTIMATES
What we know:
Only 220,000 tickets will be distributed for entering the Capitol Grounds, but members of the public are welcome to watch from parts of the National Mall, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Some members of Congress, like Staten Island's Nicole Malliotakis, said they are no longer receiving ticket requests due to the "large volume of requests."
Non-ticketholders are welcome to gather along Pennsylvania Avenue for the ceremonial presidential parade at 2:30 p.m., meaning thousands more are expected to flock to Washington, D.C.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, left, takes the oath of office as U.S. First Lady-elect Melania Trump and family stand during the 58th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Jim Bourg/Pool via Bloomberg)
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It's also worth noting that Jan. 20, 2025, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, meaning millions of Americans will already have a holiday from work and won't need to take off to attend the inauguration in-person.
Planned anti-Trump protests will draw even more crowds to the streets surrounding the Capitol, according to the Washington Post.
More than 25,000 members of law enforcement and military personnel will provide security, the Post reported. This includes 7,800 National Guard members and 4,000 officers from across the U.S., FOX 5 DC reports.
Frigid air from a polar vortex is expected to dip temperatures into single digits Sunday into Monday in Washington, D.C. These uncomfortable conditions could discourage some from attending the inauguration in-person.
FOX 5 DC's Tucker Barnes also forecasts a chance of mixed rain and snow this weekend into early Monday morning.
This graphic shows the forecast in Washington, D.C., next week. (FOX Weather)
History shows that the warmest Inauguration Day was in 1951 when temperatures reached 70 degrees. The coldest was 18 degrees in 1994.
What we don’t know:
It's impossible to estimate exactly how many people will attend Trump's inauguration in person. Even after Jan. 20, the exact number of attendees will likely never be known.
By the numbers:
Counting the number of people at major public events is as much art as science. Due to a 1995 controversy over the tally of the Million Man March, the National Park Service no longer releases official estimates for inaugural crowds, according to the Associated Press.
Here are reported estimates, according to the Poynter Institute, which cites archival media reports:
President Elect Donald Trump arrives on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden — Pictured: Over a million people gathered on the National Mall to watch the Inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on January 20, 2009 (Photo by Da
A large crowd waits in the poring rain for George W. Bush to be sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. (Photo By Douglas Graham/Roll Call/Getty Images)
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Dig deeper:
Experts estimate crowd sizes by studying aerial photographs, according to the AP. Before the National Park Service stopped releasing estimates, they'd use a grid system to divide the Mall into sections of equal square footage. Then it counted the number of people in each section of the grid by looking at how tightly packed the crowd was and assigning a number of people per square foot.
Inaugural estimates are challenging because the density of the crowd varies widely. Events in Washington are difficult in general because the city’s lack of tall buildings and security restrictions on aircraft make it tough to get comprehensive aerial images.
Ridership on the Washington’s Metro system and hotel vacancies can also be used for comparing attendance between inaugurations.
The Source: This article uses reporting from the Associated Press, Poynter Institute, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and other news outlets and official statements.
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