This diary first appeared as the "Special Bonus Section" in my diary The Inaugural Address, Part 1.
Since only a few nuts out there like me actually wanted to read about every inaugural address in American history, not many people saw this. Now that 1.20.09 is close at hand, I thought you might enjoy some trivia.
Feel free to add your own trivia nuggets in the comments.
Cross-posted at Blue Indiana
(Note: Trivia is based on formal inaugurations only. Inaugurations of VPs to succeed deceased or resigned presidents are not included unless noted. Some trivia was derived from my own reading; other items come from this National Geographic article.)
+ Chief Justice John Marshall administered the most oaths of office (10), while Roger B. Taney was second (7), followed by Melville Fuller (6) and William Rehnquist (5).
+ George Washington was never sworn in by a Chief Justice. At his first inauguration (when he hadn't yet appointed the very first chief justice), he was sworn in by the Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston. At his second inauguration, he was sworn in by Associate Justice William Cushing. (I have no idea why Chief Justice John Jay did not perform the ceremony; perhaps he was circuit riding, which Supremes did in those days.)
+ Only Washington and John Adams did not take the oath in Washington, D.C. George Washington took his first in New York (on Wall Street!) and his second in Philadelphia. Adams also took his in Philadelphia, leaving it to Thomas Jefferson to be the first POTUS sworn-in in newly-constructed D.C.
+ William Henry Harrison gave the longest inauguration speech and had the shortest presidency in history. He gave a one hour and forty-five minute speech in a snowstorm and died of pneumonia a month later.
+ Ronald Reagan gave the first inaugural at the West Front of the Capitol on January 20, 1981. Until then, modern presidents had traditionally given the speech at the East Front.
+ James Buchanan's inauguration in 1857 was the first known to be photographed.
+ In 1897, William McKinley was the first to be filmed by a movie camera.
+ In 1921, Warren G. Harding was the first president to use an automobile and the first to use a loudspeaker at the inauguration.
+ Coolidge in 1925 was the first to have his address broadcast on the radio.
+ Truman was the first to be televised in 1949.
+ Clinton's second inauguration (1997) was the first broadcast live on the internet.
+ In 1945 for his fourth inaugural, FDR had a small ceremony on the South Portico of the White House, and no parades or balls were held in deference to the ongoing WWII.
+ William Howard Taft is the only person ever to be sworn in as POTUS and to swear in someone as POTUS. Chief Justice Melville Fuller swore him in as President in 1909. Then Taft, having been appointed Chief Justice by Harding 1921, swore in Coolidge in '25 and Hoover in '29.
+ The first aircraft visible at an inauguration was Hoover's in 1929. Dirigibles and airplanes were overhead. (Of course, LBJ, in an informal inauguration in the aftermath of the JFK assassination, became the only president to be sworn in on an airplane--Air Force One.)
+ Jefferson held the first inaugural parade at his second inauguration in 1805. He rode his horse from the Capitol to the White House, followed by members of Congress and the public.
+ Monroe was the first to have a public inauguration in 1817.
+ John Quincy Adams was the first sworn in while wearing long pants.
+ Reagan had both the warmest (55 F, 1981) and the coldest (7 F, 1985) inaugurations recorded.
+ Franklin Pierce, for religious reasons, is the only president not to take the oath on a Bible. He used a law book. He was also the first president to "affirm" rather than "swear" the oath of office. Hoover also chose to "affirm;" however, he used his family Bible.
+ Washington began the tradition of taking the oath on the Bible, using one belonging to New York's St. John's Masonic Lodge.
[Note: abundibot made these comments in my original diary:
One of New York State's finest preservation libraries is the Robert Livingston library at Grand Lodge of New York, on 23rd St. And yeah, St. John's No. 1 keeps the Washington Bible, and it tends to have as much security on it [as] a president-elect when it is used during a swearing-in.
The Washington Bible has been used for the inaugurations of Warren G. Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush (whose 1989 inauguration was in the bicentennial year of George Washington's). The Bible was also intended to be used at George W. Bush's inauguration, but the inclement weather prevented it.
H/T]
+ Technically, because of Inauguration Day occasionally falling on a Sunday, there have been two times when we had no POTUS for one day. On the four other Sundays, that problem was avoided:
- James Monroe's first term expired on March 3, 1821, but March 4 was on a Sunday. On the advice of Chief Justice Marshall, he took the oath on Monday, March 5.
- The same thing occurred with Whig Zachary Taylor in 1849, but since he was succeeding Democrat James K. Polk (and not himself like Monroe), more uproar was raised over the one-day vacancy.
- On the next occasion, Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath on Saturday, March 3, 1877, rather than March 5, owing to the disputed election against Samuel J. Tilden.
- Woodrow Wilson, succeeding himself, took a private oath on Sunday and retook the oath in a public ceremony on Monday, March 5, 1917.
- Dwight Eisenhower continued the "no Sunday" tradition, taking a private oath to succeed himself on Sunday and a public one on Monday, Jan. 21, 1957 (the date had moved from March 4 to January 20 in 1937 for Roosevelt's second inauguration).
- Reagan followed suit in 1985.
- The next Sunday inauguration falls on January 20, 2013. Will the "no Sunday" tradition continue?
+ John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford are the five presidents who never gave a formal inaugural address. Tyler became president when William Henry Harrison died; Fillmore succeeded the late Zachary Taylor; Johnson took over when Lincoln was assassinated; Arthur succeeded Garfield, who was also shot and killed; and Ford replaced Nixon, who resigned. None of the five was reelected.
Note: I made a couple of errors in my original diary which I corrected in this one (I have also updated the original):
- I was wrong when I said that every president had taken the oath on the Bible.
- I incorrectly stated that Pierce was the only president to "affirm" rather than "swear" the oath.
I have also altered the original in that I clarified the section on Sunday inaugurations, added a tidbit of information here and there, and changed the order of the list.