LICHTENEGGERS ENJOY INAUGURATION HOOPLA

Vice President Dick Cheney and wife, Lynne, waved to the crowd at one of the eight inaugural balls in Washington, D.C.

Donna and John Lichtenegger visited with old friend Paul DeGregorioi, longtime St. Louis County election supervisor, during inauguration festivities. DeGregorioi, now a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, helped oversee elections in Yugoslavia and El Salvador in recent years. (Photo courtesy of John and Donna Lichtenegger.)

In one sense, Jackson resident Donna Lichtenegger had one of the best seats for the Jan. 20 inauguration of President George W. Bush.

"We had seating tickets, but because of security we couldn't get to them," she explained. "It was a cold, wet day and we really couldn't see or hear anything from where we were."

It was then that she and a friend noticed a row of portable rest rooms lined up nearby.

"We each went into a Porta-Potty and it turned out we could hear the speeches perfectly," she said. "The other outside noises were muffled out. It was perfect acoustics. Plus it was dry and we got to sit down. So that's where I listened to the inaugural address."

While the Porta-Potty experience was new, political involvement is old hat for Lichtenegger and her husband, John.

"I can remember going door to door for Gene McNary when he was running for prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County when I was 8," Donna Lichtenegger said. "My aunt and uncle were always real active in politics."

There was also never a doubt about which side of the political fence the family was on.

"I wasn't allowed to see the St. Louis Post-Disptach because my aunt and uncle thought it was too left wing," Lichtenegger said. "I had to read the Globe-Democrat."

There was never any doubt about her own personal allegiance, either. She was active in young Republican groups throughout high school and college.

"I think it's a mistake not having political clubs in high school," she said. "Youth today don't know the issues of the day. I feel I was much more educated about the issues. True, I was getting it from just one side, but that's much better than not learning about it at all."

She married John in 1974, while he was in the midst of running John Ashcroft's campaign for his first full term as state auditor. The couple has retained close ties to Ashcroft. As governor, Ashcroft twice appointed John Lichtenegger to the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

The 2000 election also saw Donna Lichtenegger go to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia as a delegate. She had been an alternate at the 1996 convention in San Diego.

"I got to go in the House Cloak Room and meet a lot of the people you see on TV a lot of the time," she said. "It was fun to be on the convention floor."

Inaugural ball tickets

The couple also had tickets to one of the inaugural balls. Lichtenegger said the tickets were harder to get than Super Bowl tickets. They stood for two hours to get as close to the stage as possible. Their perseverance paid off, with a close-up view of Secretary of State Colin Powell and some more distant shots of President and Mrs. Bush and Vice President and Mrs. Dick Cheney.

"The inauguration was pretty unorganized," Lichtenegger said,. "but the Bush team had a month less time than normal. The logistics are a nightmare in normal times, let alone in a shortened time frame. President Bush's priorities were exactly where they should have been getting his White House staff and Cabinet picked."

The Lichteneggers also attended the 1981 and 1985 inaugurations of Ronald Reagan.

"The Reagan years were when I first became really focused on politics," Lichtenegger said. "I kind of put off politics until my kids were of age. I don't do anything halfway, and for me, my family came first."

During the Reagan years, John Lichtenegger was the more active of the two. This time around Donna Lichtenegger was in the saddle. She found the election results very rewarding. Lichtenegger coordinated the Bush campaign in the Missouri 8th District and credits Missouri's grass-roots organization for narrowly swinging the state to Bush.

"A lot of people worked very, very hard," she said. "We put in a tremendous amount of time. Missouri had an incredible grass-roots campaign. That's where a political campaign is won with the volunteers."

She urges young people to get involved in the political arena and is proud that her son Brent, 23, did so in 2000.

"We need good young people to be more active," she said. "I'm sure that's just as true for the Democrats or the Libertarians. You should go with your convictions and work for your causes. Nothing will get done in this country if people don't do it."

(Editor's note: Next week Vicki Abernathy will reflect on her memories of being a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention and attending the 1997 Clinton inaugural.)