Surprising Revelations About Inauguration Day and Donald Trump’s Historic Oath – NBC4 Washington

Envision Donald Trump donning a top hat.

He would have been required to wear one had his inauguration occurred several decades prior, when such headwear was mandatory at the ceremony for the newly elected president.

Indeed, numerous aspects have evolved over 60 inaugurations, spanning from attire to modes of transport to the timing of the swearing-in ceremony.

On Monday, Trump will take the oath of office for the second instance during his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol located in Washington, D.C. He will become only the second president to be inaugurated during non-consecutive terms, following Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd and 24th president.

Here are various additional intriguing details regarding Inauguration Day, including which president halted the top hat fashion.

1. The oath of office consists of 35 words — as outlined in Article II, Section I, of the Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

2. Franklin Pierce, during his 1853 inauguration, became the first and only president to “affirm” rather than “swear” into the office of the president, as allowed by the Constitution, according to the Library of Congress.

3. Inauguration Day was once celebrated on March 4, the commencement date for presidential terms. The 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933, shifted the beginning of the president’s term and inauguration to January 20. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president inaugurated on this new date in 1937 during his second inauguration.

4. The very first inauguration was intended for March but did not take place until April 30, 1789, due to Congress’s inability to tally the electoral votes in time. The ceremony was delayed to provide President-elect George Washington sufficient time to travel from his home in Virginia to the nation’s then-capital in New York City.

5. George Washington is the only president inaugurated in two capital cities: New York City’s Federal Hall in 1789 and Congress Hall in Philadelphia in 1793.

6. George Washington also delivered the briefest inaugural address, uttering just 135 words during his second inauguration in 1793.

7. The most extended inaugural address was in 1841 by William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. president, who spoke 8,445 words over one hour and 45 minutes. Harrison passed away a month later from pneumonia, marking what still stands as the shortest presidency in American history at 32 days.

8. At Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration in 1865, Black individuals participated in the inaugural parade for the first time.

9. Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration witnessed the largest attendance of any event in Washington, D.C. history at 1.8 million attendees.

10. The first woman to inaugurate a president was Judge Sarah Hughes, who administered the oath to Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

11. The first occasion when the first lady accompanied the President in the procession from the Capitol to the White House after the inauguration was during William H. Taft’s ceremony in 1909.

12. Warren G. Harding in 1921 was the pioneering president to travel to and from his inauguration in a car.

13. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the sole president who was elected and inaugurated four times — having prevailed in elections in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944 prior to the establishment of presidential term limits.

14. Barack Obama also took his oath four times but for distinct reasons. He repeated his oath in 2009 because, during his inauguration ceremony, some phrases were out of order. Obama’s second inaugural oath occurred on a Sunday, which, by tradition, necessitated a private swearing-in that day before repeating it during the public ceremony on Monday.

15. The first former president to attend his son’s inauguration was George H.W. Bush, who was present at the 2001 ceremony for George W. Bush.

16. Zachary Taylor, for religious reasons, declined to be sworn in when his 1849 inauguration fell on a Sunday. David Rice Atchison, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, was brought in as a temporary replacement to ensure the presidency was not vacant for the day, according to the Library of Congress. Atchison’s grave in Missouri is marked “President of the United States for One Day.”

17. The Bible is not universally utilized when swearing in presidents during their inauguration. John Quincy Adams and Franklin Pierce opted for law texts, Lyndon Johnson a Catholic missal, while Theodore Roosevelt did not use any book at all.

18. The Washington Bible has been employed by a greater number of presidents on Inauguration Day than any other: George Washington, Warren G. Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush.

19. The Lincoln Bible has been used by three presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

20. Theodore Roosevelt adorned one of Abraham Lincoln’s rings during his second inauguration in 1905. Roosevelt’s secretary of state, John Hay, served as Lincoln’s private secretary and received the ring from Mary Todd Lincoln. “The President today wore a quaint old gold ring with an opal setting, which was taken from the finger of President Lincoln, in the small house opposite Ford’s Theatre, on Tenth street, on the night of his assassination,” reported the Evening Journal in Delaware.

21. James Buchanan’s 1857 inauguration was the first to be photographed, and William McKinley’s 1897 inauguration marked the first recorded by a motion picture camera, according to White House History.

22. Calvin Coolidge’s 1925 inauguration was the first to be broadcast nationwide via radio.

23. Harry Truman’s 1949 inauguration was the inaugural event to be televised.

24. Bill Clinton’s 1997 inauguration was the first to be live-streamed on the internet.

25. Grover Cleveland was the initial — and remains the only — president to attend two inaugurations as an outgoing president, participating in 1889 and 1897.

26. George Washington sought to avoid a regal appearance at his first inauguration, opting for a brown broadcloth suit. However, for his second inauguration, he wore an entire suit of black velvet with diamond buckles at the knee.

27. John F. Kennedy adhered to tradition by donning the required top hat for his inauguration, yet he removed it for the oath of office and inaugural address. No president since then has sported a top hat during their inauguration.

28. Lyndon Johnson made a fashion statement of his own during his 1965 inauguration, opting for a business suit instead of the conventional full morning dress, typically consisting of a knee-length morning coat.

and a vest.

29. Jimmy Carter donned a ready-made suit for his 1977 inauguration.

30. Jimmy Carter became the inaugural president to leave the motorcade and stroll the parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. This walk has since turned into a custom.

31. Temperatures can vary on Inauguration Day, and they did just that during Ronald Reagan’s inaugurations. The first in 1981 was the hottest on record at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. His second was the coldest, with the public inauguration and parade in 1985 canceled due to temperatures plummeting to a record-low 7 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Library of Congress. Instead, Reagan’s public inauguration took place inside the U.S. Capitol building rotunda.

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1937 inauguration is recorded as the wettest. As per the National Weather Service, a total of 1.77 inches of rain fell, and FDR insisted on returning “to the White House in an open car with a half an inch of water on the floor.”

33. John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration is noted for having the most snow on the ground, with 8 inches, although it fell the night prior.

34. There have been occasions when presidents did not participate in their successor’s inauguration, the most recent being in 2021 when Donald Trump bypassed Joe Biden’s swearing-in. Other significant absences include John Adams opting out of attending Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 inauguration, John Quincy Adams not appearing for Andrew Jackson’s 1829 inauguration, and the impeached Andrew Johnson missing Ulysses S. Grant’s 1869 inauguration.

35. This year marks only the second occasion that Inauguration Day coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which became a holiday in 1983. The first instance was during Bill Clinton’s second inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, 1997.

The term inauguration is challenging enough to pronounce, but what is the significance of inauguration day? Children pose straightforward inquiries, and we have provided answers!