Mormons have role in inauguration planning

President Ezra Taft Benson and his second counselor, President Thomas S. Monson, were VIPs at the 1989 presidential inauguration of George H.W. Bush. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed patriotic and religious music before the inaugural ceremony.

This year, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, both Mormons, are among four members of Congress on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and have responsibilities planning the Jan. 20 inaugural events for president-elect Barack Obama.

Bennett press secretary Tara Hendershott said Tuesday Bennett will be at the swearing-in ceremony on the platform in front of the U.S. Capitol. But even with the inauguration only a week away, Bennett may take on additional responsibilities that haven't yet been specified. \"He'll be doing a lot more than we anticipated,\" Hendershott said, describing the role committee members like Bennett and Reid play as \"both functional and ceremonial.\"

Fourteen members of Congress are Latter-day Saints, and all are given a place on the inaugural stand.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be represented at inaugural events for President-elect Obama by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The two leaders, who have been asked to represent the church by church President Thomas S. Monson, are scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday and the National Prayer Service at Washington’s National Cathedral on Wednesday.

A call to Reid’s office was not returned. Overall it appears that involvement in the Obama inauguration by LDS Church members will be significantly less conspicuous than in some past inaugurations.

Utahn and Mormon Steve Studdert organized the first Bush inauguration in 1989, the year the Tabernacle Choir and Presidents Benson and Monson were part of the inauguration.

The Tabernacle Choir also performed during the 1965 inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, for Richard Nixon in 1969, Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George W. Bush in 2001.

In addition to offical responsibilities, Bennett and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., have urged the Washington, D.C., mayor and City Council to reverse \"emergency legislation\" passed recently to allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol unitl 5 a.m. during the week of the inauguration. Bennett said the idea would \"only divert law enforcement resources away from their primary focus on security measures and crowd safety.\"

E-mail: sfidel@desnews.com