Inaugural run-through is held
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WASHINGTON - As presidential inaugural addresses go, it may not have been the most eloquent. But the six-word speech delivered at the rehearsal of the inauguration ceremony yesterday morning was a model of no-nonsense military efficiency.
"My fellow Americans, God bless America!" declared Army Staff Sergeant Derrick Brooks, who stood in for President-elect Barack Obama during the three-hour practice run. The 26-year-old soldier from Fayetteville, N.C., was selected for the part because he resembles Obama in height, weight, and skin color.
The morning's invocation prayer, which will be delivered at the inauguration next week by Rev. Rick Warren, was even simpler: "Let us pray. Amen."
Thousands of police officers, military personnel, and musicians participated in the rehearsal, held on the west portico of the US Capitol building.
The Marine band repeatedly practiced the official presidential march, "Hail to the Chief," delighting a few hundred hardy spectators who braved the predawn cold to watch the drill. A rehearsal of the inaugural parade was held later in the morning.
The rehearsal also featured a volley from an artillery battery that was trucked in to Grant Park, just north of the Capitol grounds.
ALAN WIRZBICKI
Cheney, who spoke in CNN's "Late Edition," said that will determine what kind of meetings the vice president attends and what kind of policy matters the vice president gets involved in.
How influential is the vice president? Cheney said that depends almost entirely on the president and what he wants.
Cheney said being vice president is nothing like being senator. It is a combination of jobs, including being a surrogate for the president sometimes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
There will be a disaster drill at the White House tomorrow. The drill will cap a 90-minute series of orientations and briefings.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
