GEORGE BUSH SWORN IN AS 41ST PRESIDENT, DECLARES HE WILL 'USE POWER TO HELP PEOPLE'

300,000 GLIMPSE A BIT OF HISTORY

To the delight of thousands who stood 25 deep along a sunny but blusterous parade route, President Bush emerged from his limousine three times yesterday to walk, ride and wave his way 1.6 miles up Pennsylvania Avenue and complete a years-long quest for the White House.

For most of the 300,000 people who lined the avenue of the presidents, Bush's day was one of patriotic pomp rather than partisanship. It was a day when thoroughfares were deserted but Metro was crammed, when police and security officers were everywhere but seemingly unneeded.

Spectators chatted good-naturedly with friends and strangers alike, but all had come to catch a glimpse of history or to show their respect for the nation's 41st president. Some wore spike heels, some wore running shoes, all were bundled against the chill winds in tightly packed crowds.

Then there was the parade, the first in eight years, which started 45 minutes late. That's because, the White House said later, the new president continued chatting with his congressional hosts at a Capitol Hill luncheon in his honor that followed the swearing-in and inaugural address at the West Front of the Capitol.

Those nearest the Capitol craned their necks at every passing police car; many waved excitedly at buses and government cars that sped past, ferrying Bush family members and others to their reserved parade seats near the White House.

"Look at that limo, that's probably Georgette," said one woman, referring to Georgette Mosbacher, the glamorous wife of Commerce Secretary-designate Robert A. Mosbacher.

Others stamped their feet, tried to placate impatient children who complained about being cold or hungry, or flirted with ever-present police officers, who wore special blue and gold inaugural badges.

Bush first got out of his car at Second Street and Constitution Avenue NW, and walked about a block. He did the same thing in front of the Justice Department at 10th Street NW, where he walked two blocks, and in front of the Treasury Building on 15th Street NW, where he walked to his reviewing stand.

Brad Gee saw it. An engineering technician who lives in Fairfax County, Gee decided yesterday morning to take his 4-year-old son to the parade and managed to find a spot near the Treasury Department.

"I saw him get out of the car and go over there and start shaking hands," he said gleefully. "The Secret Service went crazy."

The parade that followed the president had 211 marching units and floats, lasted three hours and 40 minutes, a record, and was still going well after sunset, by which time many in the crowd had begun to head home.

Some of them had taken advantage of the two hours between the end of Bush's speech and the beginning of the parade to gather at the staging area on the Mall, pressing against the wooden snow fencing as they inspected floats and other parade vehicles.

The biggest attraction was the Avenger, the plane Lt. George Bush flew in 1944 when he was shot down by the Japanese and parachuted to safety. Painted near its nose was the word "Barbara," and the plane was perched atop a gunmetal gray base that was designed to look like Bush's old aircraft carrier, the USS San Jacinto.

Near the Capitol and along the parade route, sales of T-shirts, hats and flags were brisk. One vendor tried, without notable success, to hawk a $5 aerial photo of Washington that he said was taken from a hot air balloon. Californian Edward Cabellero said he planned to leave with a suitcase half full of trinkets, including a napkin holder from Thursday's gala, which he attended with his wife.

Meanwhile, Bernadette McBeth of Margate, N.J., waited for the parade to start. "He must be a little slow with a knife and fork," she said. But when McBeth caught a glimpse of the presidential limousine, and saw first lady Barbara Bush wave a white-gloved hand, all was forgiven.

"That was definitely worth the wait," McBeth said, jumping up and down and clapping excitedly. "I just wish I could have seen more of him."

All over the city, it was clear that yesterday was not just another day. Hordes of people -- tourists and Washingtonians alike -- followed admonitions to leave their cars at home and rode Metro, causing massive fare machine backups at some stations, while thoroughfares such as the typically jammed Connecticut Avenue were deserted.

Some Metro attendants simply opened the gates and let the multitudes pass. Although crowded, Metro officials reported that trains moved smoothly with no breakdowns.

Despite the long planned "spontaneous" gestures by Bush and Vice President Quayle, both moved in what appeared to be one of the largest and tightest security cocoons ever seen in Washington.

For the first time in history, metal detectors were used at the swearing-in ceremony. All 3,900 D.C. police officers were mobilized. Some officers stood for hours on rooftops along the route, scanning the crowds for suspicious activity, while helicopters circled overhead.

Many more police stood in the streets, spaced little more than 10 feet apart, joined by members of nearly a dozen other law enforcement agencies and the military. Nearly 200 law enforcement officials guarded some intersections, at times forcing the enthusiastic crowds back onto the sidewalk by moving forward in a blue phalanx, their hands clasping the nightsticks of fellow officers.

One of the largest concentrations of police was at Third Street and Constitution Avenue NW, the scene of a peaceful protest, mostly by members of the National Organization for Women. About 100 demonstrators held large blue and white signs in support of the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion.

District police said that none of the demonstrators was arrested, but six other people were: one for crossing a police line, another for disorderly conduct and four juveniles for carrying a BB gun.

At 2:45, just before the presidential motorcade left the Capitol to begin the parade, two vendors' trucks along 15th Street NW burst into flames. The fire, which raged out of control for about five minutes, sent billows of thick gray smoke spewing into the crowds. No injuries were reported to officials, who said the fire was caused by propane gas used to cook hot dogs.

The president's day began at 9 a.m. with a private worship service for 650 friends and relatives at St. John's Church in Lafayette Square. The Quayle family also attended the simple Episcopal service.

Later, at the swearing-in ceremony, the presidential platform was unusually crowded and unusually large because of the huge number of Bush and Quayle relatives -- more than 230 -- who outnumbered the diplomatic corps.

Before the ceremony began at 11:37, some of the Bush granddaughters, who wore velvet dresses and ribbons in their freshly curled hair, stood at the edge of the platform and surveyed the crowds below.

Dennis Klein, a 42-year-old Hollywood scriptwriter, didn't make it to the upper platform but was seated with his wife, a second cousin of Barbara Bush, on the lower platform, near the press corps and diplomatic spouses.

Klein, the former head writer for "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," wore a prominent "Bush Family Member" button, although he will meet his famous in-law for the first time today at a White House lunch.

"I like this, I like lunch at the White House," said Klein, who wasn't going to an inaugural ball. "I prefer things you don't have to get too dressed up for," he said.

The new president's speech was well received by Mary Campbell, a Democrat from Clover, S.C., who was invited to a score of official inaugural events, by mistake she believes, because she has the same name as a prominent South Carolina Republican.

"I think it's wonderful," she said. "I really like the fact that he's reaching out to the hungry and the homeless. I think he's sincere."

Steve Montgomery, a Texan who works on Capitol Hill, was less enthusiastic. "Technically it was a good speech, but it didn't really say anything specific and it seemed a little flat," he said as he watched crowds leave the Capitol's west front where 200,000 people had watched the swearing-in ceremony.

"Just look at this crowd. I see a lot of fur coats and a lot of diamond watches. This town is more than 60 percent black and this crowd looks like it's about 2 percent black. That should tell you something."

Not everyone who attended Bush's swearing-in was a Republican. Coretta Scott King was there, as was Jesse L. Jackson and a deeply tanned Geraldine Ferraro, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, accompanied by her husband John Zacarro.

For Bush fans such as Ruth Griffin of Portsmouth, N.H., it was a singular experience. Griffin, who attended the ceremony in a wheelchair because of a broken leg, was dressed for the occasion. Her doctor had given her a special blue cast in honor of Yale, the president's alma mater. She wore a blue cotton dress -- "the same shade Barbara Bush wore yesterday" -- and a Bush wristwatch.

"I've waited a long time for this day," said Griffin, who has supported Bush since l976 and worked in his unsuccessful 1980 presidential campaign. "The first thing I told the doctor in the emergency room was, 'Look, you're going to have to fix me up fast because I'm going to the inauguration of George Bush and nothing is going to stop me.' "

That reaction was typical. From beginning to end, people wanted the day to be a good one. The new president's departures from the limousine, while popular, made some people nervous. "It was really impressive but I hope he doesn't do that too often," said Judith Slot, who is from Houston.

Her husband Peter Slot, a communications executive who sported a 10-gallon hat and a blue suit, said he thought Bush's action was "a symbol of a more open relationship between the people and the government."

Staff writers Victoria Churchville, Nell Henderson, Lisa Leff, Nancy Lewis, Dana Priest, Carlos Sanchez, Pierre Thomas and Elsa Walsh contributed to this report.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.