Both Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris had a direct line of sight as Trump took the oath of office shortly after noon. Clinton wore a vibrant blue that was hard to miss, perhaps a nod to Democrats about the future of the country. Harris wore all black, a departure from the colorful suits she often wore on the campaign trail. At times stoic and at others smiling, they applauded along with the crowd as Trump was sworn in.

For many, the historic candidacies of Clinton and Harris represented what could have been: the first woman presidency in our nation’s 248-year history. Instead, the inauguration was another reminder that the country is still burdened by what has not yet been.

In 2016, Clinton, whose mother was born a year before the passage of the 19th Amendment, became the first woman to win a presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party and the first woman to win the popular vote for president. During the campaign, she was disparaged by Trump — a businessman with no previous political experience and a record of allegations of sexual assault — as crooked. At Trump’s 2017 inauguration, she wore the suffrage white she’d planned to wear had she won the election.

At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Clinton made an impassioned pitch to voters to support Harris’ attempt to break the barrier she could not.

Harris, born to immigrants during the Civil Rights Movement, lost to the former president who has continued to challenge the results of the 2020 election, whose Supreme Court nominees ended federal protections for abortion and who questioned Harris’ racial background, her intelligence and competency. She ran a 107-day campaign focused on women’s rights and democracy, both of which she told voters were threatened by a second Trump presidency.

In 2016 and 2024, Trump’s derision of both women drew cheers from his supporters at his rallies. His election in November showed that his misogyny was not a dealbreaker for his voters. 

Trump also announced plans to issue an executive order establishing that American policy will recognize only male and female as genders.

Both women were under a microscope during the ceremony, with cameras catching their body language and facial expressions, offering clues about what they were experiencing. In a moment that quickly made the rounds on social media, Clinton laughed when Trump announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Clinton and Harris exhibited grace and decorum at the inauguration of a president who did not even attend the last inauguration and insulted them both on his path to office, often on gendered terms. 

That the comportment of Trump’s former rivals, and not the once and current president’s, had to hew to the highest standards signals the double standard that existed during the campaign and that still exists in our politics.