Every four years.

Americans from across the country make the journey to Washington for the inauguration of a president.

Streets are closed. The mall is covered with people. The weather is typically cold.

For those in attendance, the minor inconveniences do not detract from being there.

There is something electric when a single hand touches the Bible and the oath of office occurs. The 37 words that complete the mission of one chief executive and launch the start of the next are the most lasting impression of the American experience.

But this time it was more.

Presidents have used the bully pulpit on the inaugural stand in different ways.

Some challenge Americans to reach for new horizons, setting lofty, even stretch goals to be achieved in a span of time that eclipses the four-year term of the presidency.

Others have talked about a time of political renewal, coming on the heels of political scandal that tested the strength of the U.S. Constitution and the office of the president.

There are presidents who talk and act early on as outsiders only to succumb later to the charms and wiles of Washington.

And there are those who see sunshine, optimism and change.

President Reagan took his oath of office with a message of change. From malaise to optimism. From double-digit inflation and unemployment to tax cuts, supply-side economics and spending reconciliation. He also presented a message of restoring the American image on the international stage. Were there mistakes along the way? Sure, but there are with any president who makes decisions that affect a broad range of people both here and abroad.

President Obama comes to office at a time of change.

He looks at a weakening economy, and while inflation and unemployment are not in double digits, consumer confidence is shaken and waiting to be stirred. He sees an America on the world stage that looks for partnership, not separation. As he embraces the message of saying no to terrorism, the new president found a voice that “seeks a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

But there was more.

Barriers were removed, decades of rhetoric either fulfilled or extinguished.

The colors of red and blue that paint the partisan mosaic in America went away, if only for a few hours on a cold winter day in January in Washington. In their places were people of many colors, brought together on the Washington mall and in gathering places across the country to celebrate another change of leadership.

This time it is more.

To reach Tom Griscom, call (423) 757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.