After today, Grover Cleveland loses his status as the only U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as the nation's 47th president at 11 a.m. CST. And the only Democrat who will speak during the inauguration is a Minnesotan.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar chairs the bipartisan Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and planned on speaking at the event regardless of who won the election.
“This ceremony truly is the peaceful transition of power, and it is on me, even though I did not support the president-elect, to make sure that this ceremony is worthy of our country and worthy of our leadership in the world,” Klobuchar told reporter Sydney Kashiwagi in an interview.
Klobuchar hadn't finished her speech when the interview took place, but the senator told Kashiwagi it would emphasize the event's importance as a symbol of the country's longstanding tradition of peaceful transfers of power.
Locally, preparations are underway for what a second Trump term may mean. Immigrant communities, for one, have braced for the incoming administration's promises of mass deportations and a crackdown on entries.
You can read about that and Klobuchar's role in the inaugural festivities at the links below. We'll also have ongoing coverage of the inauguration, plus dispatches from local Martin Luther King Jr. Day events at StarTribune.com.
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