WASHINGTON - January 13, 2009 - President Bush sounded alarms about Barack Obama during the campaign season. On Tuesday, Bush went one step further: He declared Obama’s inauguration an actual emergency.

The declaration, though, was not a political statement about Republicans being run out of town. Rather, it was a bureaucratic move intended to provide additional federal money to help the District of Columbia cope with the massive crowds that are expected to turn out for the swearing-in ceremony on January 20 that will make Obama the nation’s first black president.

The government has already set aside $15 million to help the District pay for security and medical personnel. But the District’s mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, asked for more money on January 7, citing possible crowds of 1.5 million to 2 million and “the associated stresses that would place on the city’s capabilities, particularly the medical community,” said Bush spokeman Scott Stanzel.

Bush granted the request as “a precaution,” Stanzel said. If the District needs the money, it can apply for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The declaration will also allow federal public health workers to join in the public safety effort.

The president’s power to declare a state of emergency is typically used after hurricanes, floods or other natural disasters, although Stanzel said presidents have occasionally declared emergencies in advance of an anticipated event.

But never before, he said, has an advance emergency declaration been used for a “non-disaster.”