News Headlines

Countdown to the 2021 presidential inauguration begins

On January 20, 2021, the 59th Inaugural Ceremonies will happen at the United States Capitol to mark the beginning of President-elect Joe Biden’s term. The theme is “Our Determined Democracy: Forging a More Perfect Union.”

 

 

Presidential Inauguration Dates, Washington to Trump

Here’s a complete list of inauguration dates of American president inauguration dates from George Washington to Donald Trump.

Click on the date to go directly to the corresponding Inaugural Address in the Public Papers of the Presidents series at the American Presidency Project. Presidents who were sworn in after the death or resignation of their predecessor did not deliver an Inaugural Address on that occasion.

PRESIDENT FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH
George Washington 4/30/1789 3/4/1793
John Adams 3/4/1797
Thomas Jefferson 3/4/1801 3/4/1805
James Madison 3/4/1809 3/4/1813
James Monroe 3/4/1817 3/5/1821
John Quincy Adams 3/4/1825
Andrew Jackson 3/4/1829 3/4/1833
Martin Van Buren 3/4/1837
William Henry Harrison 3/4/1841
John Tyler 4/6/1841
James Knox Polk 3/4/1845
Zachary Taylor 3/5/1849
Millard Fillmore 7/10/1850
Franklin Pierce 3/4/1853
James Buchanan 3/4/1857
Abraham Lincoln 3/4/1861 3/4/1865
Andrew Johnson 4/15/1865
Ulysses S. Grant 3/4/1869 3/4/1873
Rutherford B. Hayes 3/5/1877
James A. Garfield 3/4/1881
Chester Arthur 9/20/1881
Grover Cleveland 3/4/1885
Benjamin Harrison 3/4/1889
Grover Cleveland 3/4/1893
William McKinley 3/4/1897 3/4/1901
Theodore Roosevelt 9/14/1901 3/4/1905
William Howard Taft 3/4/1909
Woodrow Wilson 3/4/1913 3/5/1917
Warren G. Harding 3/4/1921
Calvin Coolidge 8/3/1923 3/4/1925
Herbert Hoover 3/4/1929
Franklin D. Roosevelt 3/4/1933 1/20/1937 1/20/1941 1/20/1945
Harry S. Truman 4/12/1945 1/20/1949
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1/20/1953 1/21/1957
John F. Kennedy 1/20/1961
Lyndon B. Johnson 11/22/1963 1/20/1965
Richard M. Nixon 1/20/1969 1/20/1973
Gerald R. Ford 8/9/1974
Jimmy Carter 1/20/1977
Ronald Reagan 1/20/1981 1/21/1985
George Bush 1/20/1989
William J. Clinton 1/20/1993 1/20/1997
George W. Bush 1/20/2001 1/20/2005
Barack Obama 1/20/2009 1/21/2013
Donald J. Trump 1/20/2017

SCHEDULING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS

The Twentieth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution mandates specific scheduling of presidential and Congressional terms.

Prior to the passage of the Twentieth Amendment in the early 1930s, Inauguration Day was always March 4, the anniversary of the Constitution first taking affect in 1789. The Twentieth Amendment changed the date of Inauguration Day to January 20, unless that falls on a Sunday, in which case the date is moved to January 21.

AMENDMENT XX [extracts]
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.

Section 1. The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

PRESIDENTIAL OATH OF OFFICE

The Constitution stipulates the oath of office for the President of the United States to be sworn during the inauguration.

Article II, Section I

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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.”

Source: History In Pieces

Comment here