On January 20, the United States president is sworn into office in Washington D.C.
The inauguration is an important ceremony that officially marks the start of an administration. As part of the event, the incoming president speaks to the nation and announces U.S. policy goals.
This year, expanded security measures will stretch across much of Washington. The city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, announced major street closures and special transportation measures to increase security during inauguration events.
The Associated Press reports Washington D.C.’s National Guard will deploy 7,800 soldiers to help with security. The Secret Service is reportedly under additional pressure because of two attempts on the life of incoming President Donald Trump last year. In one of those attempts, Trump received minor injuries.
The Library of Congress has saved many historical documents and objects from past ceremonies. Here are some facts and firsts about U.S. presidential inaugurations:
Inaugural firsts:
George Washington did not take the oath to become the first U.S. president in January nor was the event held in Washinton, D.C. His first inaugural address was given to a joint session of Congress gathered in Federal Hall in New York City, on April 30, 1789. New York City was the nation’s first capital.
Washington began a tradition that stood for many years of kissing The Bible after taking the oath of office. The Museum of the Bible says on its website that four other presidents – Warren Harding,
Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush – used Washington’s Bible in their ceremonies. Bush had hoped to use Washington’s Bible for his first inauguration in 2001, but weather delayed shipping so he ended up using a family Bible instead.
Washington’s second inaugural address set another mark: it was the shortest at 135 words.
For 144 years, the inauguration was not held in the winter, but mostly in March.
John Adams, the nation’s second president, was the first to receive the oath from the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His swearing in took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the nation’s second capital.
Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. He walked to and from the ceremony instead of riding in a carriage. The U.S. Marine Band played at the event for the first time and has done so in every ceremony since.
In 1825, John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, broke with tradition. He was the first president to long wear pants instead of traditional shorter pants with stockings. The man who replaced Adams, Andrew Jackson, was the first to receive the oath on the East Portico of the Capitol Building. John Quincy Adams refused to attend.
In 1837, Martin Van Buren was the first of a new generation of presidents to not have British ancestry. His parents were Dutch and he was born a citizen of the United States.
William Henry Harrison set an unhappy first: On Inauguration Day in 1841, he gave the longest-ever speech without wearing warm clothes. He became sick and died weeks into his term.
Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural speech surrounded by heavy security as the nation neared war between the North and South. His second address, in 1865, was shortly after the end of the U.S. Civil War. He urged Americans “With malice towards none; with charity for all” to “bind up the nation’s wounds.” In 2009 and 2013, Barrack Obama took his oath on Lincoln’s Bible.
In 1909, William Howard Taft’s inauguration was notable for taking place inside the Senate Chamber because of a huge snowstorm. It took about 6,000 men to clear snow for the parade.
The inaugural ceremony of Calvin Coolidge in 1925 was the first to be broadcast on radio. And the first president to have a televised inaugural ceremony was Harry Truman in 1949.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inauguration was the first to take place on January 20th. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution moved the event’s date because of improved transportation methods.
In 1953, Dwight Eisenhower broke the tradition of kissing The Bible and instead gave a prayer.
Robert Frost was the first poet to every speak at an inaugural event. Frost recited his poem The Gift Outright for John Kennedy’s 1961 swearing-in. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president. Joe Biden was the second.
After Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, he and first lady Rosalynn Carter walked down Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House instead of riding inside a car.
Ronald Reagan’s inaugurations set two marks that may also never be equaled. At noon on Reagan’s first inauguration, the temperature was nearly 13 degrees Celsius. That was the warmest Inauguration Day ever. Then, on his second in January 1985, the temperature was nearly minus 14 degrees Celsius – the coldest day ever for the event.
This year, January 20 will mark only the second time a U.S. president has been inaugurated for a second term that did not follow the first. Donald Trump first took the oath of office in 2017. He joins Grover Cleveland, who was inaugurated in 1885 and 1893. Cleveland is known as the 22nd and 24th President. Trump is set to be both the 45th and 47th President of the United States.
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr. And I’m Caty Weaver.
Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted this story for VOA Learning English from Library of Congress materials.
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Words in This Story
oath –n. a public promise by a government official to fulfill his or her duty
address –n. a speech before a lot of people for a major event in public life
carriage –n. a vehicle with wheels that is pulled by horses
malice –n. a desire to cause harm to others
charity –n. the willingness to give to others with a good heart
bind up –v. (phrasal) to wrap a wound in cloth or a bandage so it will heal
recite –v. to give a speech or reading of a written work from memory and not to read it