The inauguration of an American president has historically been a symbol of a peaceful transfer of power.
Even after contested elections—and when the Union of the American States was in danger, as during the Civil War of 1861-5—presidents have sworn publicly to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” National Geographic reminds us.
The many traditions of Inauguration Day help reinforce that symbolic role.
Whether it was the glamorous ceremony organized by Andrew Jackson in 1829 or the modest ceremony in 1945 where Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for a fourth term while World War II was still raging.
Typically, inauguration day begins with the president-elect heading to Capitol Hill with the outgoing president and congressional leaders.
After taking a short 35-word oath around noon before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the new US leader delivers an inaugural speech before a large crowd of citizens, followed by a parade through the city and an evening of gala festivities, including numerous balls.
From the modest ceremony outside Federal Hall in New York City at the inauguration of the first president, George Washington, in 1789, to the massive gathering along the West Wing of the Capitol for every new president since Ronald Reagan in 1981, it's a post-election celebration that's planned months in advance.
Although the US Constitution mandates certain rules that must be followed during the inauguration, such as the oath of office, every new president brings something new.
The inauguration was originally scheduled for March 4th.
In many countries, the newly elected leader takes office within a few weeks or - as in the case of Great Britain - even the day after the election.
In the United States, however, about two and a half months pass between the election and the inauguration to give the new president time to choose a new administration.
The inauguration has been held since 1937 on January 20th following the election on the first Tuesday in November.
However, before the ratification of the 20th Amendment in 1933, most inaugurations were held on March 4th at noon.
Namely, on that day in 1789, the US Constitution came into force.
In the 18th century, four months was considered a reasonable time to count all the votes, gather the electors to confirm the election results, and allow the president-elect time to form his cabinet.
At that time, communications were much slower because horses and sailing ships were mainly used for travel.
George Washington was inaugurated in 1789 at the very end of April, partly because of the harsh winter.
Namely, it was not until April 6 of that year that enough members of Congress gathered to confirm his election.
Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes.
Word of his victory reached Washington, and he traveled to New York from his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon.
Along the way, Washington is welcomed with various celebrations, dinners, and parades.
The Twelfth Amendment, adopted on March 4, 1804, modified the election of the president and vice president.
Previously, the candidate who won the most electoral votes became president and the second-place candidate became vice president, meaning they were from different political parties.
But the four-month transition period between the outgoing and incoming administrations has proven to be too long.
After the election of 1800, outgoing President John Adams attempted to fill the judiciary with his own nominees before Thomas Jefferson took office, according to the online library JSTOR.
After the election of 1860, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln was powerless to do anything when seven states left the Union during the long "secessionist winter," while outgoing President James Buchanan failed to react by allowing secessionists to seize federal forts and arsenals.
The 1932 election led to incredible uncertainty and miscommunication between the incoming Roosevelt and outgoing Herbert Hoover administrations, further exacerbating the situation in the midst of the Great Depression.
Namely, Roosevelt had to wait four months to implement his famous "New Deal" program.
Inauguration on January 20, 1937.
With technological advances that enabled faster vote counting and communication, it was no longer necessary to wait four months for the inauguration, bearing in mind the aforementioned and other political problems that arose during that transitional period.
Therefore, on January 23, 1933, the 20th Amendment was ratified, moving the inauguration to January 20, but it could not be implemented until 1937, when Roosevelt became president for the second time.
Sanford Levinson, a professor at the University of Texas, believes that 90 years later, even January 20th is not a good enough date. He points out that many of the dangers that existed because the inauguration was postponed until March 4th are still present until January 20th.
Just as in 1933 the question of whether the US had a government was raised when Roosevelt waited four months, or until March 4, to take power, a similar situation existed in 1980 after Ronald Reagan's victory over Jimmy Carter.
"The situation in which (Reagan) did not take power until January 20 is better than if he had waited until March 4, but we still had those 11 weeks of the hostage crisis in Iran (when supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini stormed the US embassy in Tehran and kidnapped 53 people), where one could honestly ask whether we had a government," Levinson says.
However, he believes that it is possible to shorten the transition period between the election and the inauguration by only a week or two, as this would make the complex mechanism of verifying voting results through so-called electors impossible.
Abolishing the electoral system would require constitutional changes, which many experts believe is almost impossible given the balance of political forces in the US.
Inaugural speeches from Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt to Kennedy
Although not mandatory under the US Constitution, the highlight of every inauguration is the new president's address, in which he outlines the priorities of his administration for the next four years.
This practice was started by George Washington. His inaugural address in 1793 in Philadelphia is the shortest in American history – just 135 words.
The longest speech was given by William Henry Harrison in 1841 – 8.445 words or a full hundred minutes.
Since it was extremely cold, and Harrison was dressed lightly, he contracted pneumonia from which he died a month later.
Inaugural speeches have contained some of the most quoted thoughts in American history.
Thus Jefferson said in 1801 that "we have called by different names the members of the same principle, the community. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists."
Lincoln's sentence during the Civil War that "we are not enemies, but friends, we must not be enemies" and about "the better angels of our nature" is still one of the most memorable today.
Roosevelt said in 1933 during the Great Depression that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
John Kennedy said in 1961:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for it."
Ronald Reagan announced a turn in previous policies by declaring that "government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."
This meant the establishment of a new economic doctrine based on deregulation, called Reaganomics.
Challenges to a peaceful transfer of power
Although George Washington stunned the world by stepping down after two terms – handing over the presidency to Vice President John Adams in 1797 – the first real challenge to the peaceful transfer of power came in 1801 with the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, the third president.
Tensions between Adams and Jefferson escalated further during the transition period as Adams nominated a large number of judges, which was seen as an attempt to limit the new president's room for maneuver.
Adams did not attend the inauguration, although Jefferson gave a conciliatory speech, promising to protect the rights of those who had not voted for him and urging Americans to "unite with one heart and one mind."
However, Adams and Jefferson later became close and even became friends in old age, Joanne Freeman, a professor at Yale University, tells Time.
Jefferson attended the inauguration of his successor, James Madison, in 1809.
In two and a half centuries of American history, presidential inaugurations were not attended by Adams' son John Quincy Adams in 1829, who clashed with his successor, Andrew Jackson.
Eight years later, Jackson not only attended Martin Van Buren's inauguration, but was also the first president to accompany his successor to the Capitol.
Although it would not become a consistent tradition until the 20th century, Jackson's example was followed even by presidents who disagreed – such as Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.
Andrew Johnson did not attend Ulysses Grant's inauguration in 1869 because he was angry about being impeached by the House of Representatives the year before.
Donald Trump is the fourth president in US history to not attend the inauguration of his successor, claiming that the 2020 election was irregular.
Inaugurations in times of war and crisis
James Madison's inauguration for a second term in 1813 was held under wartime circumstances as British troops invaded the US, damaging the White House which was then under construction.
Seven southern states seceded from the Union in protest of the election of Northerner Abraham Lincoln, who was opposed to slavery.
According to the Library of Congress, "the federal government was on alert for a possible rebellion and assassination attempt on Lincoln.
Loaded cannons lined Pennsylvania Avenue, and riflemen on the roof monitored the movements of citizens who followed the presidential convoy to the Capitol."
For his fourth inauguration in 1945, during World War II, Roosevelt canceled the parade and balls, taking the oath of office in the White House.
Joe Biden was inaugurated in 2021 in the midst of a global pandemic and after the attack on the US Capitol by supporters of defeated President Donald Trump.
Several American vice presidents have taken the oath of office under emergency circumstances due to the death of a president.
Chester A. Arthur was sworn in at his home in New York City in 1881 after James Garfield was assassinated, and Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Ceremony at the Capitol
George Washington took the oath of office in 1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York, then the seat of Congress, while hundreds of people watched from the streets.
Four years later, he was sworn in again for his second term — this time in a smaller ceremony in Philadelphia, then the seat of government.
Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in 1801 at the Capitol in Washington, which was still under construction at the time.
Parades continued to be spontaneous, unplanned events until the inauguration of James Madison in 1809.
Parades preceded the inaugural ceremony until 1873.
Later, they transformed into a much larger event that required more time with thousands of participants.
Therefore, it was decided that the parade would no longer precede the inauguration ceremony, but would follow it as a large-scale public celebration.
After the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the area where the highest official is located was protected by bulletproof glass for security reasons.
In 1977, Jimmy Carter began the modern tradition of presidents walking back to the White House from the Capitol.
As the White House Historical Association explains, Carter wanted to send a message that he would be a president who was "accessible to all citizens."
First participation of African Americans and women
Native Americans and African Americans first participated in an inaugural parade in 1865 during Lincoln's inauguration.
The African Americans who marched represented civic organizations as well as a military battalion.
Women first participated in the parade at the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson in 1917.
Protests at Nixon's inauguration
The first protests were recorded at the inauguration of Richard Nixon.
According to Time, about a thousand citizens who condemned the Vietnam War burned small American flags, shouting "four more years of death!"
Nixon's second inauguration in 1973 was boycotted by several dozen congressmen because of the Vietnam War.
Media hype
Over time, inaugurations became more pompous and accessible to citizens as technology developed.
News of a presidential inauguration was first transmitted via telegraph in 1845 (James Polk), national radio in 1925 (Calvin Coolidge), television in 1949 (Harry Truman), and the Internet in 1997 (Bill Clinton).
In addition to politicians, the inauguration is also graced by celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Barbara Streisand at Clinton's inauguration.
Then Aretha Franklin and Beyonce when Barack Obama was sworn in.
Incidentally, his inauguration in 2009 attracted the largest crowd in Washington's history – 1.8 million.
Robert Frost was the first poet to recite at Kennedy's inauguration.
Balls and concerts
The ceremony usually ends with an inaugural ball, first organized by James Madison in 1809.
However, Jimmy Carter opted for a series of concerts at various museums in the Smithsonian complex, while Woodrow Wilson, a devout Christian, canceled such festivities.
The Forgotten Bible
Organizers forgot to bring a Bible for the oath-taking ceremony in 1789, so George Washington had to borrow one from a Masonic lodge, according to the National Memorial in New York.
A similar thing happened during Roosevelt's first inauguration.
The outgoing president's return to civic life
After the inauguration, the outgoing president leaves the Capitol and heads to a military helicopter to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base. From there, he returns to civilian life.
Bonus video:
