Since Ronald Reagan, private money has played an ever-mounting role -- $177 million and counting -- in how political victory is celebrated on Inauguration Day. What has it bought? -- Compiled by Stephen W. Stromberg from newspaper reports
1981 / Ronald Reagan
Private money raised: $8 million
Big donor(s): Atlantic Richfield Co.
Taxpayer cost: Democratic Congress appropriates $650,000 for swearing-in
The A-list ball: Johnny Carson-hosted pre-inaugural inaugural gala featuring Bob Hope, Ethel Merman, Charlton Heston and Dean Martin
Number of balls: 9
Number of marching bands in parade: 21
Celebrity headliner(s): Frank Sinatra
Attendance: 500,000, up from the 350,000 for Jimmy Carter's " 'Y'all Come' People's Celebration" in 1977
Memorable phrase: "We are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams.... Let us begin an era of national renewal."
Inaugural surprise: Critics say too much money spent on inauguration and fret that Sinatra was allowed to participate despite his ties to organized crime
1985 / Reagan
Private money raised: $12 million
Big donor(s): The Eagles, USA Today
Taxpayer cost: $2.3 million
The A-list ball: Frank Sinatra-produced presidential gala
Number of balls: 9
Number of marching bands in parade: 50, though the parade was canceled due to cold weather
Celebrity headliner(s): Ray Charles
Attendance: 500,000, but parade and outdoor speech were canceled
Memorable phrase: "Our nation is poised for greatness. Let history say of us, 'These were golden years when the American Revolution was reborn.' "
Inaugural surprise: Nicaragua pressing charges in the World Court to declare the U.S. an aggressor nation for funding Contra rebels
1989 / George H.W. Bush
Private money raised: $30 million
Big donor(s): Exxon
Taxpayer cost: $7 million
The A-list ball: Lee Atwater's Ball for Young Americans, where Atwater got down with his guitar
Number of balls: 11
Number of marching bands in parade: 54
Celebrity headliner(s): Bush favorite, the Oak Ridge Boys
Attendance: 300,000
Memorable phrase : "A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn.... For in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over."
Inaugural surprise: Bush doesn't have to testify in Oliver North trial
1993 / Bill Clinton
