Office of the Clerk

Joint Meetings, Joint Sessions, and Inaugurations

Scope of Congress

20th to 39th Congresses (February 11, 1829 to February 12, 1866)


Congress & Date	Type	Occasion, topic or location	Name and position of dignitary (where applicable)
20th Congress
Feb. 11, 1829	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
21st Congress
Mar. 4, 1829	Inauguration	East Portico⁹	President Andrew Jackson.
22nd Congress
Feb. 13, 1833	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
23rd Congress
Mar. 4, 1833	Inauguration	Hall of the House¹⁰	President Andrew Jackson.
Dec. 31, 1834	Joint session	Lafayette eulogy	Representative and former President John Quincy Adams; ceremony attended by President Andrew Jackson.
24th Congress
Feb. 8, 1837	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
25th Congress
Mar. 4, 1837	Inauguration	East Portico	President Martin Van Buren.
26th Congress
Feb. 10, 1841	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
27th Congress
Mar. 4, 1841	Inauguration	East Portico	President William Henry Harrison.
28th Congress
Feb. 12, 1845	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
29th Congress
Mar. 4, 1845	Inauguration	East Portico	President James Knox Polk.
30th Congress
Feb. 14, 1849	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
31st Congress
Mar. 5, 1849	Inauguration	East Portico	President Zachary Taylor.
July 10, 1850	Joint session	Oath of office to President Millard Fillmore¹¹	N.A.
32nd Congress
Feb. 9, 1853	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
33rd Congress
Mar. 4, 1853	Inauguration	East Portico	President Franklin Pierce.
34th Congress
Feb. 11, 1857	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
35th Congress
Mar. 4, 1857	Inauguration	East Portico	President James Buchanan.
36th Congress
Feb. 13, 1861	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
37th Congress
Mar. 4, 1861	Inauguration	East Portico	President Abraham Lincoln.
Feb. 22, 1862	Joint session	Reading of Washington's farewell address	John W. Forney, Secretary of the Senate.
38th Congress
Feb. 8, 1865	Joint session	Counting electoral votes	N.A.
39th Congress
Mar. 4, 1865	Inauguration	East Portico	President Abraham Lincoln.
Feb. 12, 1866	Joint session	Memorial to Abraham Lincoln	George Bancroft, historian; ceremony attended by President Andrew Johnson.

Notes 9 - 11:

⁹ The ceremony was moved outside to accommodate the extraordinarily large crowd of people who had come to Washington to see the inauguration. [ Return to Mar. 4, 1829 ]

¹⁰ The ceremony was moved inside because of cold weather. [ Return to Mar. 4, 1833 ]

¹¹ Following the death of President Zachary Taylor, Vice President Millard Fillmore took the presidential oath of office in a special joint session in the Hall of the House. [ Return to July 10, 1850 ]