Inauguration announcer for 15 parades for 11 presidents dumped by Trump
How many bathrooms are in the White House? Revelers at Friday's Inaugural Parade in Washington won't find out.
They may never discover the answer.
There's 34, if you were wondering, to accommodate the massive staff that serves the White House and all its inhabitants, including the President.
The tidbit is only one of the trivia questions Charlie Brotman had planned for the festivities -- "when you gotta go, you gotta go," he joked.
The 89-year-old was deep in planning for a job he's proudly held since the Eisenhower Administration. He says each waking hour for three months is spent in preparation. Every four years — since 1957 — Brotman's familiar voice has led the ceremonies as a new president is sworn in at the inaugural parade.
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And it's a job he was well-suited for. After all, he was the Washington Senators' Public Announcer, and when he declared Dwight D. Eisenhower was stepping to the mound to throw the first pitch, the then-President knew he'd found his man.
Brotman won't be the voice of Friday's parade, though. He won't be there to ask trivia questions, or lend the wisdom and knowledge he's gained as a District institution.
He was reviewing scripts from the past 12 inauguration parades — sifting through them to find out which jokes and facts were best-received — when he received an email from Max Miller of the Presidential Inauguration Committee on Jan. 4 at 10:16 a.m. informing him his services wouldn't be needed.
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That's because Donald J. Trump, the incoming 45th president of the United States, decided to switch things up, tradition be damned. In Brotman's place, Steve Ray, a Trump campaign volunteer who drove many motorcades for the President-Elect, will lend his voice to the party.
"I was shocked. More than shocked I was disappointed. It felt like Sugar Ray Leonard hit me right in the stomach," Brotman, the legendary fighter's longtime publicist, recalled to USA TODAY Sports. "I was really upset. It was just something that I never expected. Never, never, never expected. I am the only announcer the parade has ever had.
" ... I'm like wow, nobody would ever not want me to be the announcer and break this spell and break this string. So I was really upset. I was traumatized."
After 15 inauguration parades and 11 different presidents, Brotman's tenure — work he never received a dime for, nor did he ask for — is over.
Brotman was invited to sit in as announcer chairman emeritus, a post he planned to accept, but instead, he'll be a part of NBC Washington's coverage of the parade.
The new gig has helped ease the depression that washed over Brotman. The announcing duties were near and dear to him, and he'll miss it. At first, all he could ask was "why?" and "how could they disappoint me like that?" He was feeling sorry for himself.
Brotman still doesn't know why. He pressed Miller for a reason but didn't hear back. The octogenarian has his theories, though.
"I thought age may have had something to do with it," said Brotman, whose wife died late last year. "I'd like to think I look and feel like I'm 59 instead of 89, but nobody else knows that. 'My goodness, this guy is 89 years old, he’s going to die on the microphone.'"
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But Brotman pondered the change more and more, and changed his mind. He believes Trump wanted to reward Ray's loyalty, and doesn't blame the incoming President nor harbor any ill will.
"If it in fact happened that way, he did the right thing," he said. "(Trump) doesn't know who Charlie Brotman is or could care less."
So it will be Ray, the 56-year-old who has done voiceover work for the Washington Nationals, who will usher in the Trump Era. Brotman wishes they were asked to do the job jointly, especially with all the experience he could pass along.
That's not going to happen, though. The outpouring of support from many long lost friends and admirers has soothed Brotman's pain. They see him as the good guy and Trump as the bad guy, he says.
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Brotman isn't sure how effective the new leader of the free world will be. He's actually pretty sure Trump won't deliver on many of his campaign promises. But as a citizen of the United States, hope springs eternal Trump will be "very successful."
Eisenhower. Kennedy. Johnson. Nixon. Ford. Carter. Reagan. Bush. Clinton. Another Bush. Obama. Brotman announced parades for all of their big days. But he won't be there for Trump.
"Charlie, you know nothing is forever and here you are, you’ve had the greatest good fortune of anybody ever. Now it’s somebody else’s term," he said to himself. "This is the beginning of a whole new adventure for (Ray). It’s the end of an adventure for me."