I’m hitting the archives, both mental and internet, looking for another occation of national giddiness like I’m seeing today.

I’m not going to find it.

First, look at how much the media has changed over the years.

24 hour news is a different machine than it was 8 years ago. 16 years ago? Who remembers what the news was doing when W.J. Clinton was first sworn in? I remember watching it on one of the networks, and, unless I’m misremembering, it broke into daytime programming 15 minutes before and back out 15 minutes after.

G.W. Bush’s inaugural coverage had a serious smell of “thank God the counting is over.”

Did Reagan get this big a big happy? G.H.W. Bush? Clinton? Carter? Ford? Nixon? JFK?

Nixon is a good question, I think. He promised to come into office and end a war that was splitting America in half.

Reagan? Promising to waffle-stomp the commies and erradicate Government should have had something of a Hollywood feel.

Anyone remember something from the past?