NEWPORT BEACH : Class Goes All Out on Swearing In

On the same day that Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States, a wheelchair-bound student portraying Franklin D. Roosevelt was ushered into Mariners Christian School, followed by 21 other presidents from America’s history.

The past presidents gathered in a school meeting room that had been decorated with drawings depicting the interior of the White House and filled with the sounds of the national anthem. The presidents, each dressed in grossly oversized jackets and holding relics of their terms in office, stood shoulder to shoulder for the swearing-in ceremony.

From a podium featuring the presidential seal, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist led each of them through the exact wording of the oath of office.

“Congratulations, you are each now presidents of the United States of America,” said Rehnquist, who was portrayed by Mariners fifth-grade teacher Elaine Woolsey, dressed for the occasion in a judge’s black robe.

At that historic moment, the presidents began shaking hands--Richard M. Nixon and William McKinley, Grover Cleveland and Jimmy Carter--and reminiscing about their terms in office and the rigors of the job.

On Wednesday morning, students came to school dressed as presidents. Some wore suits, ties and other costumes collected at home. With permission of their teacher, they then skipped science and math classes in the morning to watch the transfer of power from George Bush to Bill Clinton. After that, each of the students was sworn in and recited a short biography of the president he or she was portraying.

“I was a general in the Civil War and served under Lincoln,” said Kimberly Christensen, who wore a gray beard, glasses and a blue sport coat to play the role of Ulysses S. Grant.

Kimberly and her classmates had crashed the history books and the encyclopedia for information on the president they would play. “Robert E. Lee surrendered to me,” she said. “I actually got drunk a lot, but I don’t need to go into details about that. I died in 1888 of throat cancer. It was real painful.”

Chris Landgren wore a blue sport coat and gray hair and carried a cane to support the ancient legs of his president, Thomas Jefferson.

“I was born in 1743. I wrote the Declaration of Independence, bought the Louisiana Territory and was a famous architect,” he said in a voice intended to sound like the Virginia drawl of Jefferson.

Amber Wynkoop wore a baseball hat to portray Calvin Coolidge, “because he liked to go to baseball games.”

Shannon Backus was confined to a wheelchair for the afternoon as a part of her richly authentic portrayal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

“I was president from 1933 to 1945 and I could have been (in office) longer but I died,” she said. “I did the New Deal--a thing to get people back into jobs, and I also helped win World War II.”

Shannon said she rented her wheelchair from a nearby hospital.

Despite the historic feel of the day, most students were realistic about their lives after the presidency.

Said Kimberly Christensen, “I hope to go into sixth grade after being President.”