History of the Inauguration

Here are some fun little facts about the Presidential Inauguration:

*First Inauguration was of George Washington in New York City On April 30, 1789. This was supposed to take place on March 4, but since the winter was so bad not enough congressmen could get to New York City to count all the votes until April 6th. Even then, it took several days for George Washington to hear he had won.

*John Adams, George Washington's vice-president at the time, wanted to call him "His Most Benign Highness," but the congressional committee settled on "President of the United States."

*Many of the order of events that occured in Washington's inauguration, still continue today, such as after the swearing in there is an inaugural address (speech), and during his second term he was sworn in by a judge, which is how all the presidents are sworn in now.

*Thomas Jefferson was the first to be sworn in at what we know now to be our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

*During Jefferson's second inauguration, after he was sworn in, he rode on horseback from the Capitol to the President's House (the name they used to use for the White House), with music and various people from the Navy Yard. This procession eventually gre into what we know as the Inaugural Parade.

*The first inaugural ball was held at Long's Hotel in Washington, D.C. in honor of our fourth President, James Madison. Soon after they started to grow...Martin Van Buren had two balls, President William Henry Harrison had three balls, and they kept getting bigger developing into what we have today, which is several parties held across the country in honor of the new President.

*Technology also played a role in the inauguration: 1st, on the members of Congress were a part of George Washington's inauguration, twenty years later at James Madison's inauguration, his entire speech was published in the newspaper. When James Polk took the oath, Samuel Morse tapped the news on his telegraph. James Buchanan was the first president to have his picture taken for his inauguration in 1857. Forty years later, the highlights of William Mckinley's inauguration was video taped. You could listen to Calvin Coolidge's address on the radio in 1925, and then finally in 1949, Harry Truman's inauguration was the first to ever be televised. The biggest boom in technology occurred in 1997 during Bill Clinton's inauguration was on the radio, televised, AND could be watched live on the internet.

*George Washington had the shortest inaugural address for his second term. It was only 135 words, whereas William Hnery Harrison gave the longest address, which was 8,445 words and took almost two hours.

These are just some highlights... I challenge you to find more!

Think you know enough to master an inauguration quiz? Try it out?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/inauguration2001/quiz.htm