There are several historical parallels between the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and that of late President Ronald Reagan, Craig Shirley, a presidential historian and author of "The Greatest Speeches of Donald J. Trump" said on Newsmax Sunday.
Not only has Trump's inauguration been moved inside to the Capitol Rotunda, like Reagan's was in 1985, but the swearings-in marked the replacements of weak presidents with strong ones, said Shirley on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
"Jimmy Carter was a good man, but a weak president," Shirley said. "The country was in crisis and the country needed strong, decisive leadership and that's why they turned to Ronald Reagan."
And Trump is replacing President Joe Biden, who is "weak and decisive" and "also corrupt."
"After his four years, after four years of just total disaster, the country needed strong, decisive leadership, so it turned to Donald Trump," said Shirley. "Joe Biden will go down in history as our worst president, our most incompetent and our most buffoonish, and our most corrupt. That much is certain."
Shirley added that he doubts a presidential library will be built for Biden, and "nobody's writing … I'm certainly not going to write a book about the Biden presidency. I don't know anybody who is."
So Biden's presidency, said Shirley, "will go down in history as just four bleak years that we are just coming out of now with the sunshine of the election and the inauguration of Donald Trump."
Shirley, meanwhile, recalled the 1985 inauguration.
"I remember how cold it was that the instruments froze to a band players' lips," he said. "The whole parade was canceled and the second inauguration of Reagan was moved inside the rotunda. It was a hastily called event but it came off very well."
Shirley also recalled working with the 50 state governors who needed a place to be when the parade was canceled.
"I called the Navy … I called them to set up several bars in the Hall of States," he recalled. "I sent all the governors over there. They spent the afternoon basically getting drunk."
He also recalled the nine inaugural balls that night, including one where there was a "melee with the coat check . . . fur coats were stolen, fistfights broke out. It wasn't actually, you know, settled until something like 3 in the morning. It was a total mess."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com