Inauguration Announcer Been at Mic Since Ike

Charlie Brotman, the octogenarian MC stationed closest to the presidential reviewing stand during Tuesday’s Inaugural Parade, has had a front-row seat to history since 1957, when he was chosen to announce President Eisenhower’s, USA Today reports. Brotman expects Barack Obama’s inauguration will be the most spectacular ever. “All of the country wants a piece of this,” he said.

“The president’s overall personality is reflected in the kind of parade,” Brotman notes—Eisenhower’s was a sober, military-style procession, and Presidents Kennedy and Reagan brought Hollywood glamor. Brotman’s planning a trivia game to distract Tuesday’s audience from the cold. “It’s as though these people are coming over to my house,” he said. “I want them to have a nice time and a good memory.” (More inauguration stories.)