Donald Trump Inauguration: Houston Will Have Strong Presence

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Residents from the Greater Houston area will be among those in the crowd when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn as the 45th President of the United States.

Many of those residents are from The Woodlands, represented by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.

On the even of the inauguration, Republican supporters were in Brady’s office on Capitol Hill to meet with Brady and his staff and pick up their tickets for the event.

“This is a chance of a lifetime, and we’ve been waiting so long to get a Republican back in the White House,” said Jean Baker, who had flown from Houston to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. “I am a senior citizen, so this is probably my last chance to do this.”

Baker said she is hoping that when Trump delivers his inaugural speech, that the message is positive for the country.

“That’s the biggest thing that we need,” she said.

Peggy Reinhold, who is also from the Woodlands, is attending her first inauguration, and excited about Trump’s incoming administration.

Reinhold, who is originally from New Jersey and attended college in D.C., said she was discouraged by policies enacted by the Obama administration and hadn’t been happy with the direction of the country.

“I am just ready for some changes, and for our country to get back to what it’s really founded on and what we’re really about,” she said.

Reinhold said the Obama administration was the reason for the slow recovery from the recession and that not enough had been done to create jobs.

By comparison, she is hopeful that Trump can deliver on his campaign promise to be a job-creation president.

“If he says he’s going to do something, then I think he’s going to do it,” she said. “He’s got a pretty big ego.”

Unity, however, is what people on both sides of the political aisle are hoping to hear about on Friday afternoon.

Reinhold said the country has been too divided for too long, and it’s time to come together.

“I believe once he starts initiating some of the things he’s been talking about, it will bring people together,” she said. “That’s what I am hoping for.”

Ann Wolford and Linda Nelson traveled to D.C. together for the inauguration and were able to stay with Wolford’s sister, who lives in the Capitol.

Nelson said that attending an inauguration was on her bucket list, while Wolford said she was invited by Brady after working on his campaign last year.

“We felt like it was an honor and a privilege,” Wolford said. “I want to hear that he will lead this country wisely and that he is willing to be guided by people who can give their counsel to him, and that he will listen to those people who have more experience that he does.”

By all accounts, Trumps has already set the bar that he will indeed be a far different president than Americans are accustomed to seeing, based on how he approaches issues, and that remains to be seen if it’s a good thing or not.

From that perspective, a step away from the status quo and a different kind of president was why Trump is being inaugurated, and not Hillary Clinton.

Nelson said, for her, it was less about the candidate and more about the fact that the Republican party is represented in the White House.

“We hope he will do the right thing and reach across the aisle,” she said.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr