In the opening scene to the last episode of The West Wing, Mrs. Bartlett asks the President who had the dumb idea of having an outdoor event in January... meaning the Inauguration of the President-Elect Matt Santos. The brilliant writing staff has President Bartlett answer: "I don't know... Washington? Jefferson? Maybe Adams?" <br /><br />This is coming from a President with an I.Q. in the 150 range. The problem is the Inauguration was always held on March the 4th, that is until they changed the law in 1933, when the Inauguration was changed to be on January the 20th, so that there could be a quicker change of office.<br /><br />Back in 1789, they needed the extra time to make sure that ALL the votes across the country were counted, then delivered by horse, and then they needed to set up for the actual Electors to cast their ballots to finalize the Presidential Election.<br /><br />In the heady days of 1933, telephones and telegraphs eliminated the need for all that extra time. Although Gore would have loved to get the 2000 Inauguration pushed back to March.<br /><br />It was a REAL surprise to me, that this normally superior writing staff would make that kind of mistake.<br /><br />kaveman7@msn.com