Guests waiting to enter President Reagan's ball
at the National Museum of Natural History
January, 20 1981
Smithsonian Institution Archives Collection

 

 

 

 

 

In 1977 President Jimmy Carter decided not to hold Inaugural Balls. Instead President Carter attended various concerts held in seven museums throughout the Smithsonian Institution. Inaugural Ball season returned to Washington, D.C. in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan attended one of his eight Inaugural Balls at the National Museum of Natural History. After surviving the coldest weather of any Inauguration, the newly elected President celebrated in the finely decorated rotunda of the museum. The most unique decoration was in fact a museum artifact. The Fenykovi Elephant that sits in the middle of the rotunda was draped in a patriotic banner and guests joked that the elephant fittingly provided a life size model of the Republican symbol.

 

 

Fenykovi Elephant in the rotunda
of the National Museum of Natural History
January, 20 1981
Smithsonian Institution Archives Collection

 

For his second Inauguration in 1989, President Reagan attended one of his nine Inaugural Balls at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. President Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Vice President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush all attended the ball. The Inaugural decorations incorporated the museum’s treasures. Guests could marvel at the lunar module or the Wright Brothers' Flyer which was suspended above the main stage where the President and First Lady greeted the crowds.