Office of the Clerk

Joint Meetings, Joint Sessions, and Inaugurations

Scope of Congress

60th to 79th Congresses (February 10, 1909 to July 1, 1946)

Congress & Date	Type	Occasion, topic, or location	Name and position of dignitary (where applicable)
60th Congress
Feb. 10, 1909	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
61st Congress
Mar. 4, 1909	Inauguration	Senate Chamber¹⁶	President William Howard Taft.
62nd Congress
Feb. 12, 1913	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
Feb. 15, 1913	Joint session	Memorial for Vice President James S. Sherman¹⁷	Senators Elihu Root, Thomas S. Martin, Jacob H. Gallinger, John R. Thornton, Henry Cabot Lodge, John W. Kern, Robert M. LaFollette, John Sharp Williams, Charles Curtis, Albert B. Cummins, George T. Oliver, James A. O'Gorman; Speaker Champ Clark; President William Howard Taft.
63rd Congress
Mar. 4, 1913	Inauguration	East Portico	President Woodrow Wilson.
Apr. 8, 1913	Joint session	Tariff message	President Woodrow Wilson.
June 23, 1913	Joint session	Currency and bank reform message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Aug. 27, 1913	Joint session	Mexican affairs message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Dec. 2, 1913	Joint session	Annual Message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Jan. 20, 1914	Joint session	Trusts message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Mar. 5, 1914	Joint session	Panama Canal tolls	President Woodrow Wilson.
Apr. 20, 1914	Joint session	Mexico message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Sept. 4, 1914	Joint session	War tax message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Dec. 8, 1914	Joint session	Annual Message	President Woodrow Wilson.
64th Congress
Dec. 7, 1915	Joint session	Annual Message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Aug. 29, 1916	Joint session	Railroad message (labor-management dispute)	President Woodrow Wilson.
Dec. 5, 1916	Joint session	Annual Message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Feb. 3, 1917	Joint session	Severing diplomatic relations with Germany	President Woodrow Wilson.
Feb. 14, 1917	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
Feb. 26, 1917	Joint session	Arming of merchant ships	President Woodrow Wilson.
65th Congress
Mar. 5, 1917	Inauguration	East Portico	President Woodrow Wilson.
Apr. 2, 1917	Joint session	War with Germany	President Woodrow Wilson.
Dec. 4, 1917	Joint session	Annual Message/War with Austria-Hungary	President Woodrow Wilson.
Jan. 4, 1918	Joint session	Federal operation of transportation systems	President Woodrow Wilson.
Jan. 8, 1918	Joint session	Program for world's peace	President Woodrow Wilson.
Feb. 11, 1918	Joint session	Peace message	President Woodrow Wilson.
May 27, 1918	Joint session	War finance message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Nov. 11, 1918	Joint session	Terms of armistice signed by Germany	President Woodrow Wilson.
Dec. 2, 1918	Joint session	Annual Message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Feb. 9, 1919	Joint session	Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt	Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr.; ceremony attended by former President William Howard Taft.
66th Congress
Aug. 8, 1919	Joint session	Cost of living message	President Woodrow Wilson.
Sept. 18, 1919	Joint session	Address	President pro tempore Albert B. Cummins; Speaker Frederick H. Gillett; Representative and former Speaker Champ Clark; General John J. Pershing.
Feb. 9, 1921	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
67th Congress
Mar. 4, 1921	Inauguration	East Portico	President Warren G. Harding.
Apr. 12, 1921	Joint session	Federal problem message	President Warren G. Harding.
Dec. 6, 1921	Joint session	Annual Message	President Warren G. Harding.
Feb. 28, 1922	Joint session	Maintenance of the merchant marine	President Warren G. Harding.
Aug. 18, 1922	Joint session	Coal and railroad message	President Warren G. Harding.
Nov. 21, 1922	Joint session	Promotion of the American merchant marine	President Warren G. Harding.
Dec. 8, 1922	Joint session	Annual Message¹⁸	President Warren G. Harding.
Feb. 7, 1923	Joint session	British debt due to the United States	President Warren G. Harding.
68th Congress
Dec. 6, 1923	Joint session	Annual Message	President Calvin Coolidge.
Feb. 27, 1924	Joint session	Memorial to Warren G. Harding	Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State; ceremony attended by President Calvin Coolidge.
Dec. 15, 1924	Joint session	Memorial to Woodrow Wilson	Dr. Edwin Anderson Alderman, President of the University of Virginia; ceremony attended by President Calvin Coolidge.
Feb. 11, 1925	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
69th Congress
Mar. 4, 1925	Inauguration	East Portico	President Calvin Coolidge.
Feb. 22, 1927	Joint session	George Washington birthday message	President Calvin Coolidge.
70th Congress
Feb. 13, 1929	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
71st Congress
Mar. 4, 1929	Inauguration	East Portico	President Herbert Hoover.
72nd Congress
Feb. 22, 1932	Joint session	Bicentennial of George Washington's birth	President Herbert Hoover.
Feb. 6, 1933	Joint meeting	Memorial to Calvin Coolidge	Arthur Prentice Rugg, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; ceremony attended by President Herbert Hoover.
Feb. 8, 1933	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
73rd Congress
Mar. 4, 1933	Inauguration	East Portico	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Jan. 3, 1934	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
May 20, 1934	Joint session	100th anniversary, death of Lafayette	Andre de Laboulaye, Ambassador of France; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; ceremony attended by Count de Chambrun, great-grandson of Lafayette.
74th Congress
Jan. 4, 1935	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
May 22, 1935	Joint session	Veto message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Jan. 3, 1936	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
75th Congress
Jan. 6, 1937	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
Jan. 6, 1937	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Jan. 20, 1937	Inauguration	East Portico	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Vice President John Nance Garner.¹⁹
Jan. 3, 1938	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
76th Congress
Jan. 4, 1939	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Mar. 4, 1939	Joint session	Sesquicentennial of the 1st Congress	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
June 9, 1939	Joint meeting	Reception²⁰	Elizabeth, King and George VI and Queen of the United Kingdom.
Sept. 21, 1939	Joint session	Neutrality address	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Jan. 3, 1940	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
May 16, 1940	Joint session	National defense message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
77th Congress
Jan. 6, 1941	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
Jan. 6, 1941	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Jan. 20, 1941	Joint session	Inauguration, East Portico	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Vice President Henry A. Wallace.
Dec. 8, 1941	Joint session	War with Japan	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Dec. 26, 1941	Joint meeting	Address²¹	Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Jan. 6, 1942	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
77th Congress
Jan. 7, 1943	Joint session	Annual Message	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
May 19, 1943	Joint meeting	Address	Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Nov. 18, 1943	Joint meeting	Moscow Conference	Cordell Hull, Secretary of State.
77th Congress
Jan. 6, 1945	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
Jan. 6, 1945	Joint session	Annual Message	President Roosevelt was not present. His message was read before the Joint Session of Congress.
Jan. 20, 1945	Inauguration	South Portico, The White House²²	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Vice President Harry S Truman.
Mar. 1, 1945	Joint session	Yalta Conference	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Apr. 16, 1945	Joint session	Prosecution of the War	President Harry S Truman.
May 21, 1945	Joint session	Bestowal of Congressional Medal of Honor on Tech. Sgt. Jake William Lindsey	General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army; President Harry S Truman.
June 18, 1945	Joint meeting	Address	General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force.
Oct. 5, 1945	Joint meeting	Address	Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet.
Oct. 23, 1945	Joint session	Universal military training message	President Harry S Truman.
Nov. 13, 1945	Joint meeting	Address	Clement R. Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
May 25, 1946	Joint session	Railroad strike message	President Harry S Truman.
July 1, 1946	Joint session	Memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt	John Winant, U.S. Representative on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations; ceremony attended by President Harry S Truman and Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Notes 16 - 22:
¹⁶ Because of a blizzard, the ceremony was moved inside, where it was held as part of the Senate's special session. President William Howard Taft took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address after Vice President James S. Sherman's inaugural address and the swearing-in of the new senators. [ Return to Mar. 4, 1909 ]

¹⁷ Held in the Senate Chamber. [ Return to Feb. 15, 1913 ]

¹⁸ This was the first Annual Message broadcast live on radio. [ Return to Dec. 8, 1922 ]

¹⁹ This was the first inauguration held pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, which changed the date from March 4th to January 20th. The Vice Presidential oath, which previously had been given earlier on the same day in the Senate Chamber, was added to the inaugural ceremony as well, but the Vice Presidential inaugural address was discontinued. [ Return to Jan. 20, 1937 ]

²⁰ A joint reception for the King and Queen of the United Kingdom was held in the Rotunda, authorized by Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, 76th Congress. Although the concurrent resolution was structured to establish a joint meeting, the Senate, in fact, adjourned rather than recessed as called for by the resolution. [ Return to June 9, 1939 ]

²¹ Delivered in the Senate Chamber. [ Return to Dec. 26, 1941 ]

²² The oaths of office were taken in simple ceremonies at the White House because the expense and festivity of a Capitol ceremony were thought inappropriate because of the war. The Joint Committee on Arrangements of the Congress was in charge, however, and both the Senate and the House of Representatives were present. [ Return to Jan. 20, 1945 ]