"I Do Solemnly Swear...": Presidential Inaugurations

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"I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations, provides an overview of inaugural ceremonies throughout United States history. Primary source materials such as drafts of inaugural addresses, letters, illustrations, and photographs are organized chronologically by presidential inauguration. This framework reflects a changing nation as the U.S. expands its borders, enters military conflicts, and celebrates the democratic ideal embodied in the peaceful transition of power within the inaugural ceremony. Special Presentations in this collection such as “Historical Insights” and “Precedents and Notable Events” provide additional information concerning ceremonial traditions and inaugural artifacts.

For more fun ways to use the collection, including online activities, see Inaugurations in the features section.

1. America at War

The threat of military conflict, its actualization, and its aftermath are reflected in a number of speeches in this collection. The addresses of James Madison and Abraham Lincoln demonstrate changes in rhetoric as America moved from the brink of war into full-scale combat in both the War of 1812 and in the Civil War. The emphasis on maintaining peace in both men's first inaugural addresses (Madison in 1809 and Lincoln in 1861) is contrasted by their discussions of the causes of the conflicts and calls for resolution in their second addresses (Madison in 1813, Lincoln in 1865).

Richard M. Nixon Taking the Oath of Office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1969.

In the wake of World War I, Herbert Hoover’s 1929 inaugural address noted the “virility and strength” of the nation, while Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural addresses in the midst of World War II (1941 and 1945) described the external disruption to the nation, calling the war “a test of our courage--of our resolve--of our wisdom--our essential democracy.” This idea of war as a test of personal resolve was reintroduced in light of the conflict in Vietnam during Richard Nixon’s 1969 inaugural address: We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. . . . To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit. To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.

• How do the presidents describe these military conflicts?
• How do the events surrounding each war contribute to a president’s account and the public's understanding of the conflict?
• How does a president call upon the public to respond to a war?
• Do these presidents discuss any of the dangers associated with the wars? How is this topic approached?
• Do they mention any potential benefits to military force? Why or why not?

2. The Cold War

The ideological and military struggles between the United States and the Soviet Union are reflected in the inaugural addresses from the second half of the twentieth century. From Harry Truman’s definition of communism in his 1949 inaugural address as “a false philosophy [threatening] material well-being, human dignity, and the right to believe in and worship God” to Ronald Reagan’s call for a nuclear missile defense system to protect against Soviet aggression in his 1985 inaugural address, the threat of communism was a familiar feature of presidential policies. How does each president describe communism? Are there any common images and ideas? Does the description of communism change over time? How?

Inauguration of Harry S. Truman, Washington, DC, 1949.

3. Economic Policies

The reduction of taxes and the national debt have been familiar presidential platforms since Thomas Jefferson discussed them in his 1805 inaugural address: “The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes.”

In eras of both prosperity and recession, the economic outlook for the nation has been a familiar part of the inaugural address. For example, James Buchanan expressed dismay at America’s wealth in his 1857 inaugural address:

No nation has ever before been embarrassed from too large a surplus in its treasury. This almost necessarily gives birth to extravagant legislation. . . . The purity of official agents . . . is suspected, and the character of the government suffers in the estimation of the people. This is in itself a very great evil

A little over a decade later, Ulysses S. Grant faced the problems of growing debt and inflation in the wake of the Civil War. In his 1869 inaugural address, Grant proposed to redeem the inflated paper money of the war with gold “[t]o protect the national honor.” In his 1873 inaugural address, Grant emphasized the amount of time he had dedicated to economic concerns during his first term: “[T]he past four years, so far as I could control events, have been consumed in the effort to restore harmony, public credit, commerce, and all the arts of peace and progress.” America’s economy was booming during Calvin Coolidge’s 1925 inaugural address but he also called for economic reform via tax reduction: “The method of raising revenue ought not to impede the transaction of business. . . . We can not finance the country . . . through any system of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich.” Ronald Reagan echoed this belief in a chillier economic climate in his 1985 inaugural address when he called for freezing government spending and proclaimed, “We must act now to protect future generations from Government's desire to spend its citizens' money and tax them into servitude when the bills come due."

President Grant Taking the Oath of Office, Washington, DC, March 4, 1873."

• How do the presidents’ economic policies reflect the economic climate of the time? Using information from the inaugural speeches, create a timeline depicting changes in economic policy.
• What kinds of arguments do these presidents make to support their economic policies?
• Why are tax reductions and public debt such popular subjects?
• Who benefits from a tax reduction?
• How does Calvin Coolidge’s argument about tax reduction differ from Ronald Reagan’s claim?

4. Inaugural Ceremonies and Tradition

The oath of office is the only Constitutional requirement when swearing in a new president, but it’s just one aspect of the inaugural tradition. The delivery of an inaugural address, the use of a Bible during the oath, and an inaugural ball are just some of the traditions dating back to George Washington’s first inauguration in 1789. Marvin Kranz, a historical specialist at the Library of Congress, describes the precedents Washington set for future presidents in a RealVideo clip that is part of the Special Presentation, “Historical Insights.”

A history of inaugural balls is provided in the 1933 essay, “Inaugural Balls of the Past.” This article from Franklin Roosevelt’s first inaugural program describes the inaugural ball as “one touch of royalty among all our republican institutions” and briefly chronicles historic moments, from the dance celebrating Washington’s inauguration to Mrs. Woodrow Wilson’s cancellation of the ball in 1913 with the exclamation, “I cannot bear to think of a ball, with modern dances, when Woodrow is inaugurated.” Photographs from different inaugural balls are available by selecting Balls (Parties) in the Subject Index. Additional souvenir programs from 1881, 1885, and 1889 are available by selecting Programme in the Subject Index.

Official Program for the 1933 Inauguration.

Telegram from Warren G. Harding to Hon. Edward B. McLean, January 12, 1921.

Warren Harding had reservations about the inaugural ceremonies. A search on Edward McLean results in a January 12, 1921 telegram and letter dismissing the committee that planned these events. In the letter, Harding wrote: [T]he impression of extravagant expenditure . . . would make me a very unhappy participant. I know full well that the government outlay is relatively small . . . but it is timely and wholesome to practice the utter denial of public expenditure where there is no real necessity. . . .

In Harding’s inaugural address (which was followed with a very small parade), he discussed the nation’s economic outlook:

We can reduce the abnormal expenditures, and we will. . . . We contemplate the immediate task of putting our public household in order. We need a rigid and yet sane economy, combined with fiscal justice, and it must be attended by individual prudence and thrift, which are so essential to this trying hour and reassuring for the future.

How do the inaugural ceremony and traditions reflect the democratic nature of the United States? To what extent might they reflect the disposition of one man, George Washington? What is the value of adding “a touch of royalty” to the proceedings of a republic? Do inaugural balls provide this “touch of royalty”? Explain. Who attends an inaugural ball? How does Warren Harding’s cancellation of inaugural ceremonies relate to his discussion of “abnormal expenditures”? Did Harding’s sparse inauguration set a tone for his presidency? Do you think that he was right in dismissing the inaugural committee?

Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton at Inaugural Ball, Washington, DC, January 20, 1993.

5. Westward Expansion

The United States grew dramatically during the nineteenth century. This expansion was featured in a number of inaugural addresses ranging from Thomas Jefferson’s defense of the Louisiana Purchase in his 1805 address to Benjamin Harrison’s discussion of the “near prospect of the admission into the Union of the Dakotas and Montana and Washington Territories” in his 1889 speech.

President James K. Polk, 1845.

James Polk’s 1845 inaugural address describes the merits of reclaiming Texas and describes the United States' “clear and unquestionable” title to Oregon before reflecting upon the growth of the nation: [E]ighty years ago our population was confined on the west by the ridge of the Alleghenies. Within that period . . . our people . . . have filled the eastern valley of the Mississippi, adventurously ascended the Missouri to its headsprings, and are already engaged in establishing the blessings of self-government in valleys of which the rivers flow to the Pacific. The world beholds the peaceful triumphs of the industry of our emigrants. To us belongs the duty of protecting them adequately wherever they may be upon our soil.

A search on 1845 letter yields correspondence to President Polk commending him on his speech. For example, J. Huddleson’s letter describes attending the ceremony with his family and proclaimed the speech “the best ‘Inaugural Address’ (in my humble opinion) that I ever heard or read. I never before felt such an abiding confidence, nor such a perfect unity of my hopes and anticipations, in regard to the coming administration.”

• Who does Polk’s address appeal to? Why?
• How does his explanation of the nation’s growth compare to Jefferson’s claim that “[t]he larger our association, the less will it be shaken by local passions”?
• Were all of the land claims that expanded the United States “peaceful triumphs . . . of emigrants”?
• Why does Polk express concern in a March 5, 1849 diary entry when he learns that his successor, Zachary Taylor, believes that Arizona and California should remain independent?
• How do Jefferson, Harrison, and Polk's inaugural speeches relate to the notion of Manifest Destiny, i.e. the United States had a divine right to become a transcontinental nation?
• What role might such speeches have played in the westward expansion of the United States?
• What do these speeches indicate about the specific events and concerns, as well as the motivations and vindications behind the nation’s growth at different periods in its history?