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USINFO >
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 (Posted November 2004)
PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS
The 20th amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifies that the term of each elected President of the United States begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. Each President must take the oath of office before assuming the duties of the position. With the 2005 inauguration of George W. Bush, the oath has been taken 69 different times by the 43 Presidents of the United States. This numerical discrepancy results chiefly from two factors: a President must take the oath at the beginning of each term of office, and, because Inauguration Day has sometimes fallen on a Sunday, four Presidents (Hayes [1877], Wilson [1917], Eisenhower [1957], and Reagan [1985]) have taken the oath privately before the public inaugural ceremonies. In addition, President Arthur took the oath privately following the death of President Garfield and again two days later in the Capitol. The 69 oaths administered to date have been taken in a wide variety of locations: THE OATH OF OFFICE Each President recites the following oath, in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." NOTABLE EVENTS AND MILESTONES March 4, 1793-George Washington: Shortest inaugural address (135 words). George Washington (1732-1799) delivered his first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress, assembled in Federal Hall, New York City, on April 30, 1789. The newly elected President delivered the speech in a deep, low voice that betrayed what one observer called "manifest embarrassment." Aside from recommending constitutional amendments to satisfy citizens demanding a Bill of Rights, Washington confined himself to generalities. He closed by asking for a "divine blessing" on the American people and their elected representatives. In delivering an inaugural address, Washington went beyond the constitutional requirement of taking an oath of office and thus established a precedent that has been followed since by every elected President. March 4, 1801 -- Thomas Jefferson: The first and probably only President to walk to and from his inaugural; first newspaper extra of an inaugural address, printed by the National Intelligencer. March 4, 1857 -- James Buchanan: First inaugural known to have been photographed. March 4, 1865 -- Abraham Lincoln: First time that African-Americans participated in the inaugural parade. March 4, 1897 -- William McKinley: First inaugural recorded by movie camera. March 4, 1909 -- William H. Taft: First use of an automobile in an inaugural parade (President Taft was not an occupant). March 4, 1917, and March 5, 1917 -- Woodrow Wilson: First time that women participated in the inaugural parade. March 4, 1921 -- Warren G. Harding: First President to ride to and from his inaugural in an automobile; first use of loudspeakers at an inaugural. March 4, 1925 -- Calvin Coolidge: First inaugural to be broadcast nationwide by radio. January 10, 1945 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt: First and only time a President was inaugurated for a fourth term. (The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1951, restricts the presidency to two terms.) January 20, 1949 -- Harry S. Truman: First inauguration to be televised. January 20, 1961 -- John F. Kennedy: First President to be inaugurated on the extended East Front; last President to wear traditional stovepipe hat to the inauguration. November 22, 1963 -- Lyndon B. Johnson: First time that the oath was administered in an airplane (Air Force One, a Boeing 707, at Love Field in Dallas, Texas). August 4, 1974 -- Gerald R. Ford: First unelected Vice President to assume the presidency: first Vice President to assume the presidency under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which specifies that, upon the resignation of the President, the Vice President shall become President. January 20, 1977 -- Jimmy Carter: First President to walk all the way from the Capitol to the White House with his family after ceremony; provisions were made for the handicapped to watch the parade. January 20, 1981 -- Ronald Reagan: First inaugural held on the West Terrace of the Capitol; first closed-captioning of television broadcast for the hearing impaired. January 20, 1997 -- William J. Clinton: First time that the ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet. January 20, 2001 -- George W. Bush: First time that a former President (George H. W. Bush) attended his son's inauguration as President. MEMORABLE WORDS "To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle." "On each national day of inauguration since 1789, the people have renewed their sense of
dedication to the United States. In Washington's day the task of the people was to create and weld together a nation. In Lincoln's day the task of the people was to preserve that Nation from disruption from within. In this day the task of the people is to save that Nation and its institutions from disruption from without."
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