Facts and Firsts
Watch the Video "So Help Me God", a historical look at the Inaugural Ceremonies 1789-2005.
Inauguration Date | President | Facts and Firsts |
---|---|---|
April 30, 1789 | George Washington | First Inauguration; precedents set include the phrase, "So help me God," and kissing the Bible after taking the oath. |
March 4, 1793 | George Washington | First Inauguration in Philadelphia; delivered shortest Inaugural address at just 135 words. |
March 4, 1797 | John Adams | First to receive the oath of office from the Chief Justice of the United States. |
March 4, 1801 | Thomas Jefferson | First Inauguration in Washington, D.C. |
March 4, 1809 | James Madison | Inauguration held in the House chamber of the Capitol; first Inaugural ball held that evening. |
March 4, 1817 | James Monroe | First President to take the oath of office and deliver the Inaugural address outdoors; ceremony took place on platform in front of the temporary Brick Capitol (where Supreme Court now stands). |
March 5, 1821 | James Monroe | March 4, 1821 fell on a Sunday, so Monroe's Inauguration occurred the next day. |
March 4, 1829 | Andrew Jackson | First President to take the oath of office on the east front portico of the U.S. Capitol. |
March 4, 1833 | Andrew Jackson | Last time Chief Justice John Marshall administered the oath office; he presided over nine Inaugurations, from Adams to Jackson. |
March 4, 1837 | Martin Van Buren | First President who was not born a British subject; first time the President-elect and President rode to the Capitol for the Inauguration together. |
March 4, 1841 | William H. Harrison | First President to arrive in Washington by railroad; delivered the longest Inaugural address (8,445 words). |
April 6, 1841 | John Tyler | First Vice President to assume Presidency upon the death of the President. |
March 4, 1845 | James K. Polk | First Inauguration covered by telegraph; first known Inauguration featured in a newspaper illustration (Illustrated London News). |
March 4, 1853 | Franklin Pierce | First President to affirm the oath of office rather than swear it; cancelled the Inaugural ball. |
March 4, 1857 | James Buchanan | First Inauguration known to have been photographed. |
March 4, 1861 | Abraham Lincoln | Lincoln's calvary escort to the Capitol was heavily armed, providing unprecedented protection for the President-elect. |
March 4, 1865 | Abraham Lincoln | African Americans particpated in the Inaugural parade for the first time. |
March 4, 1873 | Ulysses S. Grant | Coldest March 4 Inauguration Day; the noon temperature was 16°F, with wind gusts up to 40 mph. |
March 3, 1877 | Rutherford B. Hayes | March 4, 1877 fell on Sunday, so Hayes took oath of office on Saturday, March 3 to ensure peaceful transition of power; public Inauguration on March 5. |
March 4, 1881 | James Garfield | First President to review the Inaugural parade from a stand built in front of the White House. |
March 4, 1897 | Wiliam McKinley | First Inaugural ceremony recorded by a motion picture camera; first President to have a glass-enclosed reviewing stand; first Inauguration at which Congress hosted a luncheon for the President and Vice President |
March 4, 1901 | William McKinley | First time the U.S. House joined with the U.S. Senate, creating the JCCIC, to make Inaugural arrangements |
March 4, 1909 | William H. Taft | Inauguration took place in the Senate chamber because of blizzard; first time President's wife rode with President in the procession from the Capitol to the White House after Inauguration. |
March 4, 1913 | Woodrow Wilson | Inaugural ball was suspended for the first time since 1853. |
March 4, 1917 | Woodrow Wilson | First President to take the oath of office on Sunday; public Inauguration held on Monday, March 5, 1917; first time First Lady accompanied President both to and from the Capitol; first time women participated in the Inaugural parade. |
March 4, 1921 | Warren G. Harding | First President to ride to and from his Inauguration in an automobile. |
March 4, 1925 | Calvin Coolidge | First Inaugural ceremony broadcast nationally by radio; first time a former President (William Taft) administered the oath of office as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. |
March 4, 1929 | Herbert Hoover | Second President to affirm rather than swear the oath of office; first Inaugural ceremony recorded by talking newsreel. |
March 4, 1933 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | FDR and Eleanor begin tradition of morning worship service by attending St. John's Church. |
January 20, 1937 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | First President Inaugurated on January 20th, a change made by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution; first time the Vice President was Inaugurated outdoors on the same platform with the President. |
January 20, 1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | First and only President sworn in for a fourth term; had simple Inaugural ceremony at the White House. |
January 20, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | First televised Inaugural ceremony; Truman reinstated the official Inaugural ball. |
January 20, 1953 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Broke precedent by reciting his own prayer after taking the oath, rather than kissing the Bible; first time the JCCIC hosted the Inaugural luncheon at the Capitol. |
January 20, 1961 | John F. Kennedy | First time a poet participated in the Inaugural program; first Catholic to become President of the United States. |
November 22, 1963 | Lyndon B. Johnson | First time a woman administered the oath of office (U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes swore in Johnson on Air Force One). |
January 20, 1969 | Richard M. Nixon | Took the oath of office on two Bibles; both family heirlooms. |
August 9, 1974 | Gerald R. Ford | First unelected Vice President to become President. |
January 20, 1981 | Ronald Reagan | First Inauguration held on the west front of the U.S. Capitol. |
January 21, 1985 | Ronald Reagan | January 20th fell on Sunday, so Reagan was privately sworn in that day at the White House; public Inauguration on January 21st took place in the Capitol Rotunda, due to freezing weather; coldest Inauguration day on record, with a noon temperature of 7°F |
January 20, 1997 | William J. Clinton | First Inaugural ceremony broadcast live on the Internet. |