Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Inauguration Day

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

Every four years on January 20th, the United States holds a ceremony for the inauguration of the President of the United States. There are traditions for the inauguration, some of which have been passed down since the very first. Why do we use January 20th as the date, and how did many of these traditions get started? Learn more about the history and traditions of the Presidential Inauguration on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every four years on January 20th, the United States holds a ceremony for the inauguration of the President of the United States. There are traditions for the inauguration, some of which have been passed down since the very first. But why do we use January 20th as the date of the inauguration and how did many of these traditions get started? Learn more about the history and traditions of the presidential inauguration on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? throughline is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the Throughline podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream. If you're a student of American history or presidential history, you'll find plenty to watch on CuriosityStream. They have shows on the War of 1812, the Cold War, the Great Depression, the Civil War, and many of the cultural transformations of American society. CuriosityStream is currently running a special where you can get a full year for 40% off, or only $1199. That's only a dollar a month for some of the best educational programming.

If you love to learn, then start your subscription by visiting everything-everywhere.com or by clicking on the link in the show notes. Inauguration Day is the day the day the President of the United States takes the oath of office and begins a new presidential term. Because it's so short, I'll read the oath of office for you right now. 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. Inaguration Day wasn't always on January 20th. In fact, for most of American history, the day fell on March 1st.

fourth. When the Constitution was first written, one of the issues which had to be dealt with was the time it took to get information and people from the various states to Washington. Everything was done by horseback, and as the nation grew westward, the length of time it took to get to Washington increased. California was admitted to the Union in 1850, 12 years before the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Likewise, the nation didn't always vote on the same day. For the first presidential elections, there was no popular vote. State legislatures elected electors, and they often voted as early as September. So the March 4th date was to give ample time between the Electoral College voting and for the incoming president to assemble a cabinet

and get everyone to Washington. The first presidential inauguration didn't actually take place on March 4th, however. Due to a bad winter, Washington's first inauguration took place on April 30th, 1789 in New York City. It was held on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street. You can visit the Federal Hall National Monument today. However, it isn't the the same building and there's no longer a balcony. There are several traditions that started with George Washington. The first was putting his hand on a Bible when taking the oath of office. The Bible which was used was taken from the St. John's Lodge No. 1 of the ancient York Masons. The Bible was randomly open to a page, which turned out to be Genesis 47, which says, quote,

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be a haven of ships, and his border shall be unto Zydon. The passage was totally random and has no meaning whatsoever dealing with the presidency. The same Washington Bible has been used in the inaugurations of several other presidents. Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush all used the Washington Bible. There's no requirement about the use of a Bible. It's just a tradition. Some presidents haven't used a Bible at all. John Quincy Adams and Franklin Pierce put their hands on a book of law. Theodore Roosevelt, having taken the oath after the death of William McKinley, didn't put his hand on anything. Lyndon Johnson put his hand on a Catholic missile because that's all they could find on Air Force One, and they didn't want to waste time looking for a Bible.

Franklin Pierce is the only president to use the words affirm rather than swear when taking the presidential oath. Washington also ad-libbed the phrase, So Help Me God, at the end of the oath, and then kissed the Bible, both of which have been done by subsequent presidents. There have been several cases of presidents flubbing the oath. In 1909, William Howard Taft repeated the oath incorrectly as given by the Chief Justice. In 1929, Taft, this time acting as the Chief Justice, did the same thing to Herbert Hoover, when he said, preserve, maintain, and defend the Constitution, instead of preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. Hoover did not retake the oath.

Eisenhower inserted the word the in front of president, and Lyndon Johnson was prompted to say, presidency by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Chief Justice John Roberts moved the word faithfully, and President Obama, after pausing, followed his lead. He retook the oath again the next day, just to be safe. Washington also gave the first inaugural address. He didn't give it to the public, however, which had gathered for the inauguration. Rather, he went inside and gave it to Congress. His second inaugural address was the shortest in history at only 135 words. This time, he took the oath of office in Philadelphia. The longest inaugural address in history was given by William Henry Harrison, who gave a marathon one hour, 45-minute speech, which was 8,445 words long. To put that in

perspective, the scripts I create for this podcast are usually between 1,000 and 2,500 words long. No president who ascended to the office after the death or resignation of a predecessor has ever given an inaugural address, but they all have addressed Congress soon after. John Adam, became the first president to have the oath administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This, too, is not required by law, and technically anyone can administer the oath of office. There have been several oaths that have been administered since then by someone other than the chief justice. Usually upon the death of a president, they try to get anyone who was a judge. In the case of Calvin Coolidge, when Warren Harding died, the oath was administered by his father, who was a notary public.

The change in the inauguration date occurred with the 20th Amendment, which was known as the lame duck amendment. Prior to this, both the Congress and the president were inaugurated on the same date, March 4th. The first president to be inaugurated on January 20th was Franklin Roosevelt during his second inauguration in 1937. Needless to say, inauguration suddenly got a lot colder. The warmest January 20th inauguration was Ronald Reagan's first inauguration when the temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit or 13 Celsius. The coldest inauguration was Reagan's second when the temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 14 degrees Celsius. There have been other traditions that have started in the 20th century.

In 1921, Warren Harding traveled to the Capitol for the first time in an automobile. The first televised inauguration was Harry Truman in 1949. Since 1953, Congress has hosted a luncheon for the incoming president. In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson held the Bible, becoming the first first lady to have an active role in the inauguration. An interfaith prayer service was started in 1985. One tradition which never got off the ground was adopted by Andrew Jackson. He invited the public to the White House and had over 20,000 people show up.

There were so many people, Jackson had to flee the White House through a window. To date, there have been 59 presidential inaugurations over a period of 232 years. Every inauguration is different, but they all share common traditions that have tied them together throughout American history. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James Mackala. associate producer is Thor Thompson. Remember to leave a five-star review to get your review read on the show. They can be left at Apple Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcast Republic, or wherever you listen to the show. Also, you can help support the show over at patreon.com.

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