The president of the United States has been inaugurated at noon on January 20 since 1937 when the Constitution was given the 20th Amendment, changing it from March 4. First Inauguration
George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789 on the balcony of the New York Federal Hall. The date for inauguration was set for March 4 to give state electors nearly four months after Election Day to cast their presidential ballots. Washington's second Inauguration Day took place on March 4, 1793 - in the Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Four Exceptions To March 4 Between 1793 And 1933
March 4 was held up as Inauguration Day for all except four presidents between 1793 and 1933. Since March 4 fell on a Sunday for their inaugural years, James Monroe (1821), Zachary Taylor (1849), Rutherford B. Hayes (1877) and Woodrow Wilson (1917) each gave an address on Monday, March 5.20th Amendment To U.S. Constitution Changes Inauguration Day To January 20
With the four months between Election Day and Inauguration Day no longer being needed to be that long, the United States on January 23, 1933 ratified the 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The main purpose was to reduce the time between election of the president and his term. The amendment took effect on October 15, 1933.Presidential Oaths Taken
The president and vice president both take the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., with the vice president going first.
The oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same: that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter."
And then at noon the president-elect becomes president and recites another oath of office
"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."Ruffles And Flourishes And "Hail To The Chief"
The oath is immediately succeed by four ruffles and flourishes - played on the drums and bugles respectively and the highest honor - and then "Hail to the Chief" is played, followed by a 21-gun salute from the Presidential Salute Battery.Inaugural Address
Designed to set the tone of the administration, the augural address follows. The only four presidents to not give an address were John Tyler (1841), Millard Fillmore (1850), Andrew Johnson (1865) and Chester A. Arthur (1881), each of whom was succeeding a president who had died in office. George Washington's second speech in 1793 was the shortest in history at 135 words while William Henry Harrison gave a winded 8,495 oracle in 1841.Most Famous Inaugural Address Line
Perhaps the most famous line from an inaugural address came in John F. Kennedy's speech on January 20, 1961 when he said near the end: "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
The next line is seldom quoted but goes: "My fellow citizens of the world: ask now what Americans will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."Inaugural Parade
The speech is followed by an Inaugural Parade, which has become a tradition since Thomas Jefferson in 1805 in parading down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was the first president to include African-Americans in the parade. And in 1917, Woodrow Wilson was the first president to include women in his parade.
