History of Presidential Inaugurations: Why on January 20?

Trump -Vance Inauguration logo. Image: Wikimedia

HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS: WHY ON JANUARY 20?

In 1933, it seemed that a four-month transition between an outgoing “lame-duck” president, who was voted out in November, and a new administration starting in March was too long.

Indeed, during the winter of 1932-1933, a horrific battle between the incumbent Herbert Hoover and President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt complicated FDR’s ability to deal with the failed economy resulting from the Great Depression.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1933 to move the Presidential Inauguration (and its corresponding end date of term service) from March 4 to noon on January 20. The amendment also made provisions should a President die during his term, resign, or be removed from office. As we saw in my previous article, presidential transitions were not always smooth.

How have Presidential Inaugurations changed throughout American history, what’s the official oath of office, where is it done, and what have been some novel Presidential Inaugurations?

Modern Presidential Inaugurations

Donald Trump, Office of the President Elect. Image: NPR

However, it was not until the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 that all the current processes to effect a peaceful transition of power were put in place. This includes providing candidates nominated by the major parties with classified national security briefings, transition services, facilities, and equipment.

The new compressed 11-week timetable made every moment count. As my previous article on the History of Presidential Transitions showed, if things get complicated, that amount of time can seem tight.

Now, we observe the 60th Presidential Inauguration. In my previous article, written a decade and a half ago on the Obama Inauguration, I discussed how social media played a large part in during Obama‘s inauguration. This drove exponential growth in information generated at that time. Today, we get most of our news via social media, with podcasts (including mine), and not as much from newspapers, radio, and TV.

Inauguration Locations

President Biden delivering inaugural address on Capitol Hill, Jan. 20, 2021. Image: Wikipedia

In modern times, the west front of the U.S. Capitol is the usual site for the Inauguration and swearing-in ceremony at noon unless January 20 falls on a Sunday. It’s been used on 56 occasions, but there are over a dozen other places where the President was sworn into office, by taking the presidential oath.

However, due to dangerously cold weather, the Inauguration will be held inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda this year. This was last done forty years ago for the same reason, in 1985, for Ronald Reagan.

Presidential Oath Taken

While there have been a number of different versions of the oath of office taken since the first one in 1789, since 1884, the following has been used:

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.

The American author Washington Irving, in his biography of George Washington, relates that Washington added the words “so help me God.” But this is not part of the constitutionally mandated oath of office for the President. Irving’s story did not arise until long after Washington took the oath. Nevertheless, in more recent times, it has become customary to add those words at the end of the oath. Every President, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Donald Trump, has used the words “so help me God.”

No book is required to swear upon, but traditionally, it has been done by raising the right hand and placing the left on the Bible. However, some have used other books.

Novel Presidential Inaugurations

Here are some factoids from American history with which to impress your friends and family during the Inauguration:

• The first Inauguration took place on April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of the Federal Hall in New York City. His speech was only 135 words long. He kissed the Bible and enjoyed fireworks at the end of the day’s celebration, paid for by private citizens. The inaugural ball was not held until the following month, and his wife Martha did not make the trip to NYC to attend.

• The first Inauguration at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., was for the third president, Thomas Jefferson, who took the oath of office on March 4, 1801, in the Senate Chamber. His speech was printed as an “extra” in the National Intelligencer newspaper.

• James Monroe, on March 5, 1817, was the first to be sworn in wearing long trousers. All his predecessors wore colonial-era breeches and stockings.

• March 4, 1837, was the first time both the outgoing President Jackson and incoming President Van Buren rode to the Capitol inauguration in a carriage together.

• William Harrison, on March 4, 1841, gave the longest inaugural address at 8,445 words. That was the length of my university history thesis.

• James Polk‘s Inauguration on March 4, 1845, was the first to be covered by telegraph.

• James Buchanan, on March 4, 1857, was the first to have his Inauguration photographed.

• Abraham Lincoln, on March 4, 1865, ended his oath with “So help me God,” and he kissed the Bible. As it was toward the end of the Civil War, his speech included: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

• William Henry McKinley, on March 4, 1897, was the first Inauguration covered by a movie camera.

• Theodore Roosevelt, on March 5, 1905, was the first time telephones were installed on the Capitol Grounds for an inauguration.

• Warren G. Harding, on March 4, 1921, was the first to use loudspeakers at an inaugural.

• Calvin Coolidge, on March 4, 1925, was the first inaugural to be broadcast nationally by radio.

• Herbert Hoover, on March 4, 1929, was the first inaugural covered by a talking newsreel.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt, on January 20, 1937, was the first president inaugurated on the new date stipulated by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The first and only President who was inaugurated for a 4th term, thereafter restricted by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1951. He said during his inauguration speech: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

• Harry S. Truman, on January 20, 1949, was the first Inauguration to be televised.

• John F. Kennedy, on January 20, 1961, was the first Inauguration televised in color. He said in his speech: “And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

• Lyndon B. Johnson, on November 22, 1963, was the first president to be sworn in on an airplane, following the assignation of John F. Kennedy

• Gerald R. Ford, on August 4, 1974, was the first Vice President to become President based on the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, in accordance with the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon

• Ronald Reagan, on January 20, 1985, was the first time a television camera was placed inside the Presidential Limousine from the Capitol to the White House. It was the first closed-captioned television broadcast for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Bill Clinton, on January 20, 1997, was the first ceremony broadcast live on the Internet.

• Barak Obama, on January 20, 2009, was the first Inauguration covered by major Social Media Networks.

• Donald Trump, on January 20, 2025, for his second non-contiguous term, is the first to feature foreign leaders in attendance, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

• • All four living former Presidents and their wives (with the exception of Michelle Obama) were in attendance. All the Supreme Court justices were there.
  • Several international billionaires attended, including Bernard Arnault (luxury goods LVHM), Miriam Adelson (casinos), and American Rupert Murdoch (Fox, WSJ, NY Post). Their combined worth is about $250B.

• • Notable tech leaders attending included Tim Cook (Apple), Elon Musk (Tesla, X), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta/Facebook), Sundar Pichai (Alphabet/Google), San Altman (OpenAI), and Shou Zi Chew (TikTok). Their combined companies represent $12T in market capitalization, and they have over $1T in combined personal wealth.

Which Former President Skipped their Successor’s Inauguration

Four years ago, Donald Trump did not attend Joe Biden‘s Presidential inauguration, the first time in 152 years since Andrew Johnson in 1869 did not attend the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant. Previous former presidents who did not attend the inauguration of their successor include:

• John Adams (1801) did not attend the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson.

• John Quincy Adams (1829) did not attend the inauguration of Andrew Jackson.

• Martin Van Buren (1841) did not attend the inauguration of William Henry Harrison.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com

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