Small moments shine on grand stage

Patrons in a Chicago restaurant were among the millions who watched the inauguration yesterday on television and online. (M. Spencer Green/Associated Press)

During a presidential inauguration - especially one invested with as much meaning as this one - even the logistics are compelling. On what other day, as you watch TV, can you read deep meaning into seeing someone get into a car? Or wrest drama out of wondering whether a speech will start on time?

Yesterday, you could. And on a day when it was hard to turn away from the set - or the computer screen, where record numbers watched the proceedings - the collected assembly of television anchors seemed to revel in their front-seat view, giddy about history, gushing about the peaceful transfer of power, and the enthusiasm of the giant crowds.

It was a televised event that lived up to its bigness, in part because the networks covered it that way, but mostly because of the way the Obamas and their inaugural planners seemed to recognize and play to the important. When you get Aretha Franklin to sing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" wearing a hat with a giant bow, you're not aiming for understatement.

Despite the emphasis on grandness, though, it was the smaller moments, their symbolism private or half-hidden, that seemed especially riveting: Michelle Obama handing a gift box to Laura Bush; the moving vans in front of the White House; the incidental audio that the pool cameras picked up, capturing the chitchat as former presidents made their way to their seats.

The clothes felt crucial, too; as reported by CNN's Soledad O'Brien, Michelle Obama's striking suit-dress was the color "maize," invoking the Midwestern red states or perhaps the Native Americans.

Dick Cheney, meanwhile, appeared in a wheelchair - he had hurt his back moving boxes - and looked consequently enfeebled. And as he joined Joe Biden in a limousine headed to the Capitol, most networks speculated about what conversation might be going on inside. Chris Wallace of Fox News speculated about "a slightly interesting or even frosty ride."

As much of the pomp unfolded, yesterday was good business for presidential historians, elder-statesman journalists, and random glitterati: In the morning, MSNBC got commentary from Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and fashion designer Kenneth Cole.

And on CNN, it was an occasion for more technical gadgetry. The network, which spent Election Night extolling its hologram view of will.i.am, yesterday crowed about its 3-D photo, compiled from viewer snapshots of Obama taking the oath of office - and of its satellite photography of Washington.

"We're going to get the view from space!" Wolf Blitzer said.

Across the dial, the anchors fell silent during the ceremony itself, leaving the necessary space around John Williams's arrangement of Aaron Copland themes and the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery's benediction, which ended with perhaps the boldest lines of the day. (". . . when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man.")

When it was done, the chatter resumed, with much discussion of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.s flub of the oath. (On Fox News, Brit Hume assured viewers that Obama still was president.) ABC's Charles Gibson pointed out that Obama had made a mistake - calling himself the 44th man to take the oath, when in fact Grover Cleveland had taken it twice - then noted that it probably wouldn't be remembered: "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it, myself."

In its formal way, the staid Senate luncheon in the Capitol even made for compelling viewing, this before Senator Edward M. Kennedy's seizure threw a pall of concern over the event, and musings about history gave way to Kennedy tributes. When positive reports came back from the hospital, a certain giddiness took over.

On CBS, Governor David Paterson of New York, when asked whether he would give the open New York Senate seat to Caroline Kennedy, promised Katie Couric that "if I make a decision at 3 in the morning, since I can't call Hillary Clinton anymore, I will call you."

On ABC, as the new president and first lady walked along the parade route, Diane Sawyer piped up: "This may be a very female observation, but is Mrs. Obama not cold?"

And a few minutes later on NBC, Brian Williams was poking fun at weatherman Al Roker's hat. ("I love the fedora. It's very 'Mad Men,' ") just before Roker, stationed along the parade route, hollered out to the president, begging for a comment. Obama mouthed something, and Roker turned to the camera with glee. The president had spoken to him, and this was big.

"He told me it's warm!" Roker shouted.

"First interview, there you have it," Williams said. "News and weather, Al Roker."

Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com