Forty-three people

That's all. Forty-three other people in almost 250 years of history have done what is about to happen today.

That's a tight fraternity. It's less than the composition of a football team. It's less than twice the size of a baseball roster. Hell, I've had college classes of that size.

Forty-four other nondescript people put in a room who may have each had their own life stories. Not to be diminished, they're all certainly unique in their own right and probably have stories to tell.

But not like one through forty-three. From George Washington to George W. Bush and everybody in between, stop and take that in. The picture of the presidents taken in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago says it all; what a collection of leaders.

For good or for bad, and there's been a whole lot of bad the last eight years, the smooth transition of power continues.

And let's all cross our fingers that when we find out what the last hours of 43's administration included there are no unfortunate surprises.