Charles Julian Brotman (born December 30, 1927) is an American

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

specialist and

public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

, known for his presentation of U.S. presidential inaugural parades of 12 presidents from

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

to Joe Biden (excluding only

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Early life and career

Brotman, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, grew up in

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Washington, D.C., graduated from

McKinley Technology High School McKinley Technology High School is a public citywide 9th–12th grade high school in the District of Columbia Public Schools in Northeast Washington, D.C. The school, an offshoot of Central High School (now Cardozo Senior High School), originall ...

and studied at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

. He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

from 1946 to 1948, then attended the National Academy of Broadcasting. Following his graduation from the academy, Brotman worked as a disc jockey and sports announcer in Orlando, Florida. A 1956 meeting with Senators' owner

Calvin Griffith Calvin Robertson Griffith (December 1, 1911 – October 20, 1999), born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner. As president, majority owner and ''de facto'' general manager of the Washington Se ...

led to him returning to his hometown of Washington to serve as the announcer at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Boun ...

for the Washington Senators baseball team. He later became the team's promotions director as well. In the 1960s, Brotman started his own public relations firm, Brotman|Winter|Fried, specializing in sports promotions. (His firm was acquired b
Sage Communications
in 2011.) He continued to announce on Opening Day for the Senators each year until the team moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

following the 1971 season. When the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadi ...

relocated to the city in 2005, Brotman returned to his Opening Day duties. Brotman joine
LINK Strategic Partners
a strategic communications and stakeholder engagement firm based in Washington, DC, as

in 2015. He advises the firm on its hyperlocal engagement work in DC and around the country. Brotman has been inducted into 11 different Halls of Fame during his more than 50 years in public relations and announcing, including the Washington Hall of Fame, the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Jock's Hall of Fame, the Public Relations Society of America Hall of Fame, the Advertising Club of Washington Hall of Fame, the Greater Washington Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame. His most recent induction took place in 2014 at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts for the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation Hall of Fame.

As an inauguration announcer

In 1949, while a student at the National Academy of Broadcasting, Brotman was recommended by his teacher to serve as an announcer for

's second inauguration, which was the first presidential inauguration to be televised. Although he was not involved with

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

's first inauguration, as the announcer for the Washington Senators baseball team, he did introduce Eisenhower when the president threw out the

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

on Griffith Stadium's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

in 1956. Later that year, a White House staffer called Brotman and said Eisenhower was impressed with his work, and he wanted Brotman to introduce him again at the president's second inauguration. The staffer asked Brotman, "Will you charge a fee? Because our parade budget is very minimal." Brotman responded, "No, as a matter of fact, to be honest, I'd pay you for the honor." Brotman was behind the microphone for every inaugural parade in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, from Eisenhower's second inauguration in 1957 to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

's second inauguration in 2013. Obama's second inauguration was the 15th consecutive ceremony that Brotman has announced, and his 16th overall. During the presidency of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, Brotman also served as the announcer at

tee ball Tee-ball (also teeball, tee ball or T-ball) is a team sport based on a simplified form of baseball or softball. It is intended as an introduction for children aged 4 to 6 to develop ball-game skills and have fun. Description Tee-ball association ...

games on the South Lawn of the White House. President

's Presidential Inauguration Committee ended Brotman's streak as announcer, instead picking Steve Ray, a Trump supporter, for the 58th Presidential Inauguration. Brotman was, however, selected to welcome the National Organizers for the

Women's March on Washington Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 m ...

on January 21, 2017 - the day following the Inauguration. Brotman was again selected to serve as announcer for Joe Biden's

inaugural parade The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pres ...

on January 20, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotman, Charlie 1927 births Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent American public relations people Major League Baseball public address announcers People from Washington, D.C. Public address announcers University System of Maryland alumni