Chapter 912: Reagan's Inauguration and First Decree

On January 20th, the inauguration ceremony for the new American president, Ronald Reagan, will take place.

According to reports in major media outlets, more than 800,000 Americans will come to Washington to attend the inauguration of the new president.

Of course, all these people can only stand outside the Capitol Building.

The only people who can go to the innermost part are the specially invited guests.

In the morning, Ronald Reagan, George Walker Bush and their families first went to St. John's Episcopal Cathedral near the White House for prayers.

After the prayers, the group returned to the White House, where Ronald Reagan met with the current president Jimmy Carter for a cup of coffee. Then the two men, each accompanied by their wives, drove to the Capitol Building.

Xia Yu, at a specific time, arrived at the special guest seats with a special invitation.

Around him were ambassadors from various countries to the United States, congressional leaders attending the ceremony, and important supporters.

The appearance of Xia Yu, a young man with yellow skin, made those around him frequently glance at him. Xia Yu also saw the Chinese ambassador to the United States smile and nod at him, but Xia Yu keenly noticed the surprise in the Chinese ambassador's eyes.

Xia Yu knew very well that after the inauguration, he would probably immediately report back to the top, repositioning Xia Yu's influence and his relationship with the new president-to-be, Ronald Reagan.

You have to understand that, on this occasion, apart from the ambassadors of Asian countries in the US, there was only Xia Yu, who was definitely the only one in the room!

I believe that apart from the Chinese ambassador to the United States, the ambassadors of other countries will also collect information on Xia Yu. Everyone who has the potential to be related to the President of the United States is a target of their close attention.

Xia Yu could guess this, but he was also happy about it.

He just didn't like to be high-profile in front of ordinary people, but being on the top echelons of each country definitely did him no harm.

And the more the mainland valued him, the better he would do in the future!

Time flies.

It's 11:30am in Washington, and the inauguration ceremony is about to begin.

The US Marine Band plays the opening music, while the master of ceremonies, Colby Forster, stands in front of the microphone. He first introduces the presidents, then the families of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and the leaders of the respective congresses.

Then came George Walker Bush, and finally Ronald Reagan, the most important figure of the inauguration.

The whole inauguration ceremony lasted half an hour.

Finally, it was 12 noon, and more than 800,000 people outside the Capitol Building kept quiet at the same time.

They knew that the most critical moment had arrived!

In the midst of the attention, George Walker Bush, accompanied by his family, walked to the centre of the podium and was sworn in as the 40th Vice President of the United States. The oath-taking ceremony was presided over by US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The first African-American Supreme Court justice in American history was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson on 2 October 1967.

This was the fourth time he had presided over the oath of office of a US president.

After George W. Bush had taken the oath solemnly, Ronald Reagan, accompanied by his family, walked to the microphone in the centre of the stage, where he was awaited with great anticipation. His wife, Nancy Davis Reagan, held a Bible that his mother had given him when he was a child in her gloved hands, and Ronald Reagan placed his left hand on the Bible and raised his right hand high as he took the oath solemnly.

'I swear, so help me God...'

Seeing this scene, especially the Bible that Ronald Reagan's left hand was pressing against, Xia Yu's face revealed a faint smile, feeling that it was somewhat meaningful.

This is the United States, which proclaims freedom and democracy. The tradition of the US president swearing in with his hand on the Bible began with the first president, George Washington.

Of course, this tradition is not a mandatory requirement of the US Constitution. It is simply because the Founding Father of the United States, George Washington, was a devout Christian who believed that the independence of the United States was the grace of 'God', and he kissed the Bible and swore on it at the presidential inauguration.

Since then, every president has followed Washington's example out of respect for him and to ensure a smooth transition.

Not only that, but every US president since then has been a Christian, and when running for president, candidates emphasise their Christian faith, otherwise they hardly stand a chance of winning.

What can be said about all this? Xia Yu can only say that it is interesting, and there is no offence or contempt intended. After all, every place has its own cultural traditions.

For example, the motorcycle stacking in the Indian military parade is very distinctive in Xia Yu's opinion, and it is very impressive after watching it once, and you can't forget it [dog head].

After the inaugural speech, the content that all major media outlets focused on came.

Ronald Reagan announced the members of the new US cabinet and the White House.

The cabinet includes Vice President George W. Bush.

Secretary of State: Alexander Mags Heag, former commander of the US European Command.

Secretary of Defense: Casper Willard Weinberger.

Attorney General: William French Smith.

Secretary of the Treasury: Donald Reagan.

Secretary of the Interior: James G. Watt.

Secretary of Commerce: Myron Balducci.

Secretary of Labor: Raymond J. Donovan.

Secretary of Energy: James B. Edwards.

...

The cabinet was largely decided after a struggle between Republicans and Democrats, and most of the members were Republicans.

As for the White House team, Ronald Reagan was the one to decide.

Jim Baker, as expected, became the White House Chief of Staff.

The remaining more important positions were: White House Press Secretary James Brady.

Director of the White House Council of Economic Advisers: John Luteridge.

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs: Richard Allen.

Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget: David Stockman.

Senior Presidential Adviser: Roderick Saxe.

...

In total, there are 23 senior members of the White House, and all 23 have a prefix – Assistant to the President.

Although Roderick Saxe relied on Xia Yu's guidance to excel this month, winning Ronald Reagan's favour and having Xia Yu's support,

However, the time was still too short, and he still could not compete with John Rutledge and take the position of Director of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Nevertheless, he was among the ranks of senior White House officials and was given the position of Senior Advisor to the President.

Not only that, but it seemed that in order to give Rhodes Saxon a more level playing field and to give Xia Yu an explanation, Rhodes Saxon, as Senior Economic Advisor, also had his own team, and was not alone in competing with John Rutledge's White House Council of Economic Advisers.

In Xia Yu's opinion, the difference is that the White House can only have one Economic Advisory Commission sign, and if there could be two, Ronald Reagan would probably give one to each of them.

But this is obviously impossible, unless Ronald Reagan wants to be mocked by the major media.

Xia Yu also noticed a special person, Ronald Reagan's former butler William J. Casey, who was not only a member of the White House but also served as the director of the CIA.

Not only that, he was also allowed to sit in on cabinet meetings, and was clearly Ronald Reagan's right-hand man!

After Ronald Reagan finished his inauguration ceremony, the luncheon officially began inside the Capitol Building. Only specially invited guests were allowed in, and the American public outside of course went back to their homes.

However, since Ronald Reagan still had to hold the inauguration parade after the luncheon, the luncheon naturally didn't last long. Xia Yu also simply ate a little and was then called up to communicate with others. Many people were interested in him and wanted to get to know him first.

Xia Yu would not go to the inauguration parade in the afternoon. After the luncheon, he returned to the mansion he had purchased in Washington.

Just as Ronald Reagan began the inauguration parade, the new U.S. government appointed by Ronald Reagan officially began to operate.

After the first executive order signed by Ronald Reagan was officially implemented, Executive Order 12287 was issued, which announced the deregulation of oil prices and distribution.

The most obvious target of this executive order is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Obviously, for today's oil market, the US government and the oil consortia and Wall Street capitalists behind it want to have greater control, further entrenching US oil hegemony while also addressing the country's inflation problems.

Previously, the US government implemented strict and complicated oil price control measures out of a need to control inflation and ensure energy security. Price controls weakened US oil rights, increased the vulnerability of US oil security, and limited the room for manoeuvre of US foreign policy.

According to the provisions of the executive order, the executive order will be formally implemented on January 28, and by then, US oil prices will truly be aligned with world oil prices, and the price of US oil will be completely dictated by the market.

But who will be dictating it is hard to say, after all, the oil-producing countries have been defeated by the US many times, and the oil of many countries is already pegged to the US dollar!

Although the executive order still needs eight days to be implemented, Song Yang and Xue He from Galaxy Fund, who are in front of the TV, are already excited.

They had been curious about the result all day, and it turned out to be this, which could definitely stimulate a sharp rise in US oil prices.

Sure enough, when they looked at the price of oil futures, they saw that it had already begun to soar, with an upward momentum several times greater than before.

It easily broke through the 34 US dollars per barrel line, quickly climbing towards 35 US dollars per barrel.

In a short period of time, the Galaxy Fund's oil futures had a floating profit of 100 million US dollars.

While Song Yang, Xue He and the others were keeping a close eye on the price of oil futures,

Another news broadcast by CNN News Channel stimulated the American public and made them cheer for Ronald Reagan. It was the announcement by Iran that it would release the American hostages it had previously held.

Xia Yu knew that this was something that the Republican Party and the Iranian leadership had agreed upon a long time ago, in order to further enhance Ronald Reagan's prestige.

As the sun gradually set in the west, the people of Washington could only move the location of their celebrations from outdoors to indoors.

Xia Yu, suit and tie, holding an invitation, took a car to the Washington Convention Center.

I've attached a complete list of cabinet members:

Cabinet members: Reagan's 'foreign ministers':

Vice President: George H. W. Bush;

Secretary of State: Alexander Haig (1974-1979 Commander in Chief of the United States European Command);

Secretary of Defense: Caspar Willard Weinberger;

Secretary of Justice: William French Smith;

Secretary of the Treasury: Donald Regan, Republican, Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch (-1980);

Secretary of the Interior: James G Watt;

Secretary of Agriculture: John Rusling Block;

Secretary of Commerce: Malcolm Baldrige;

Secretary of Labor: Raymond J. Donovan;

Secretary of Health: Richard S. Schweiker;

Secretary of Education: Terrell Bell;

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Samuel L. Pierce;

Secretary of Transportation: Andrew L. Lewis;

Secretary of Energy: James B. Edwards;

Hidden Cabinet-level members:

Director of Central Intelligence: William J. Casey;

Ambassador to the United Nations: Jane J. Kirkpatrick;

Trade Representative: William E. Brooke III.