The Capital: Ring in the New

The mood of expectancy swept through Washington. It lurked in the crowded corridors of the Capitol Building, where returning Congressmen jostled painters touching up the Brumidi frescoes, buzzed through the downtown Democratic clubs and patronage offices, rang out in the lilt of High Hopes and Walking Down to Washington among the New Year's Eve dancers at Chevy Chase Club and in the jammed hotel ballrooms. Along Pennsylvania Avenue, workmen rushed new tiers of spectator stands for John Fitzgerald Kennedy's inaugural parade, and the requests for tickets reached blizzard stage.

A team of workers prowled the parade route atop a mobile boom,...