American Presidential History 1973 Official Senate Inauguration Ticket with White House Entrance Card

Richard Nixon

Ephemera

Senate inauguration ticket, 1973, documents spectator access to Richard M. Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew’s second presidential inauguration and, together with an accompanying White House entrance card, preserves two forms of official access ephemera associated with the federal government in Washington, D.C. Nixon and Agnew took their respective oaths that day at the East Portico of the United States Capitol, beginning second terms as the 37th President and 39th Vice President. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies identifies January 20, 1973 as the 47th presidential inauguration and lists Senator Howard W. Cannon as chairman and Kentucky Senator Marlow W. Cook among the committee members.

Grouping comprises two card stock admission pieces: one 2 x 4 inch yellow Senate ticket dated January 20, 1973 for the Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C., and one 2½ x 3 inch White House entrance card printed with a yellow image of the White House. The Senate credential’s designation for “Preferred Standing Room SENATE” and its instruction that it be presented only at a specified intersection record the physical organization of spectator access to the inaugural ceremony. The accompanying White House card gives a separate form of controlled entry through the East Entrance and requires identification. Because the White House card itself is undated and does not mention the inauguration, its precise relationship to the January 20 ceremonies cannot be established from its printed text alone. The timing of the Senate ticket is particularly significant in retrospect: Agnew resigned as vice president on October 10, 1973, and Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, leaving this inaugural ephemera as documentation of the ceremonial opening of an elected presidential ticket that would not remain intact through its second term.

[1] United States Senate. Inauguration Ceremonies Preferred Standing Room Senate Ticket. Washington, D.C., 1973. Yellow card measuring 2 x 4 inches, reading, “January Twentieth 1973 Inauguration Ceremonies admit bearer to Preferred Standing Room Area Only Capitol Ground, Preferred Standing Room SENATE.” Printed signatures are identified in the supplied description as Howard W. Cannon and “Marlan W. Cook,” with “Co-Chairmen, Committee on Arrangements”; official Senate records establish the Kentucky senator’s name as Marlow W. Cook. The reverse reads, “This ticket to be presented only at Constitution and Delaware Avenues, F-937,” furnishing a precise entry point and ticket designation for Senate-area spectators. [2] The White House. Entrance Card. Washington, D.C., n.d. White card stock measuring 2½ x 3 inches with the White House printed in yellow in the background, reading, “Please present this card with identification at The East Entrance The White House, Not Transferable.” Both cards are reported without specific defects; near fine. A focused pairing of federal access ephemera documenting the practical experience of admission to the Capitol grounds during Nixon and Agnew’s 1973 inauguration, supplemented by a contemporary White House entrance credential.

Item #12990

Price: $100.00