Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
5 facts about Inauguration Day
5 facts about Inauguration Day
Dec 8, 2025 5:37 AM

Tomorrow is Inauguration Day, a day of ceremonies to mark the peaceful transition of federal executive power within the United States government.

Here are five facts should know about the most important date (after Election Day) on the political calendar:

1. Inauguration Day used to be held on March 4. That was the original date (March 4, 1789) when the Confederation Congress, which operated under the Articles of Confederation, handed off power to the new constitutional government. When the new Constitution changed the opening day of Congress to the first Monday in December (Article I, Section 4), March 4 was chosen as the last day of the two-year legislative session. Because elections were held in November, this created an extended lame-duck session. The Twentieth Amendment changed the date of inauguration to noon on the 20th day of January.

2. The Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 8) outlined the exact wording for the oath the president must take during the inauguration: “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.” No one knows for sure who began the tradition of adding on the end, “So help me God” (some claim it was George Washington, though there is pelling evidence to support that position). Since the Constitution doesn’t specify the wording of the oath for the Vice President,who is also the president of the U.S. Senate, he or she takes the same oath as senators.

3. George Washington started the practice of swearing-in with the ing president’s left hand on a Bible (which he borrowed from a Masons lodge). Washington also started the tradition of kissing the Bible after the oath. That tradition was followed by most every president until Dwight Eisenhower, who said a prayer instead of kissing the Bible. Theodore Roosevelt did not use a Bible and both John Quincy Adams and Franklin Pierce swore on a book of law. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Catholic missal found on Air Force One even though he was a Protestant. Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama each swore the oath on two Bibles, as will Donald Trump.

4. Since 1937, every inauguration has included at least two prayers given by members of the clergy (Baptists have given a prayer 14 times; Catholics 12 times). The last official inaugural event also includes prayer: the National Prayer Service (January 21) at the Washington National Cathedral.

5. Following the inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, the outgoing President and First Lady leave to begin their post-presidential lives. As the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies notes:

In the early 20th century, a new tradition evolved whereby the outgoing president quietly left the Capitol immediately following the inaugural ceremony. In 1909, after congratulating President Howard Taft, former President Theodore Roosevelt left the Capitol for Union Station, where he took a train to his home in New York. In 1921, an ailing President Wilson panied President-elect Harding to the Capitol, but was too ill to remain during the ceremony. Outgoing Presidents Coolidge and Hoover also left the Capitol for Union Station where they traveled home by train. Outgoing Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Johnson left the Capitol by Car. Johnson and his family drove to Andrews Air Force Base where they boarded Air Force One for the trip home to Texas. . . . Since Gerald Ford’s departure in 1977, the former President and First Lady have left the Capitol grounds by helicopter (weather permitting).

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Blockbuster Benedict blogs
Pope Benedict XVI is in the United States the next couple days, as you may have noticed. In case you’re interested in fleeing the inane, inaccurate, or ideologically charged coverage that will likely be on offer from most media outlets, you can instead pay attention to the following more reliable sources: “Benedict in America” at Pope Benedict XVI FanClub. A resoundingly Catholic look at things, these folks have earned their stripes: they were the Ratzinger Fan Club back when Benedict...
Classically liberal, pro-life, and isolated
Over the last two days, Italians have been heading to the polls to select a new parliament and a new government. As I’ve already noted, despite mitment to moral and ethical issues, the Catholic Church in Italy does not have a favorite political party. In last week’s Wall Street Journal Europe, Francis X. Rocca, a Vatican correspondent for Religion News Service, wrote a very coherent op-ed on this delicate topic. Rocca says the Church is not impressed with the center-right...
Review: Barth’s Church Dogmatics
Late last year controversy arose after the federal Bureau of Prisons had created a list of approved religious and spiritual books that would be allowed into prison chapels. Among those authors who was excluded from the list was the greatly influential twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth. The potentially incendiary nature of religion was apparently the impetus behind the bureau’s attempt to control access to religious works, which was quickly reversed. As one blogger put it, Karl Barth was “going back to...
Should your school be on the Honor Roll? One month remaining to apply.
Applications and nominations are being accepted for the 5th annual Catholic High School Honor Roll –a list of America’s Top 50 Catholic high schools judged on academic excellence, Catholic identity, and civic education. The list is published nationally as a resource for parents, schools, colleges and donors. As a constructive petition, the Honor Roll is designed to encourage excellence in Catholic education. This is the perfect time to encourage your local Catholic high school to apply. All schools benefit because...
Clinton or Obama?
Clinton or Obama? A few of you may have noticed that we’ve added a small polling widget on the right side-bar of this blog. This, of course, is all highly “un-scientific” and doesn’t really mean much, but can provide some interesting results. The current poll asks who you would prefer as the Democratic candidate for the general elections in November – Omaba or Clinton. The results, so far, show Clinton ahead of Obama by about 58% to 42%. This is...
Happy April 15th to you and yours!
How do we evaluate taxes? Ahhh, it’s spring! The weather is warming; the trees are blooming; and our minds turn inevitably toward taxes. In addition to filing our 1040’s in time for April 15th, the average worker (over 25 years old) has already lost an additional $2,000 this year to the federal government’s payroll (FICA) taxes on e. At the state level, the Governor and the legislature just passed property tax reform. People are mildly irritated at the recent 16.7...
Rev. Robert A. Sirico on Pope Benedict XVI’s US visit
Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico appeared on Fox Business Network to discuss Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States this week. If you didn’t catch it live, the video is here: You’ll also want to tune in this afternoon during the 4:00 hour on Fox News Channel as Rev. Sirico joins Neil Cavuto ment on Pope Benedict’s arrival. Update: Here’s the video of this afternoon’s appearance on Fox News Channel: ...
Samaritan Award is open
The 2008 Samaritan Award opens today! If you know of a great charity or non-profit organization that directly serves members of a vulnerable population and receives little to no government funding, please encourage them to apply. The grand prize is $10,000 and there are several smaller awards for runners-up. From the Samaritan Award website: This $10,000 grand prize is awarded once a year to an exceptional and privately funded nonprofit that fosters deep personal change in the individuals they serve....
Absolute and relative poverty: The ‘dogma’ of economic equality
On Friday April 11, the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, featured a front-page article on the progress made in international development since Pope Paul VI wrote the encyclical Populorum Progressio in 1967. The author of the article, Fr. Gian Paolo Salvini, S.J., is director of the journal La Civiltà Cattolica. He has a degree in economics and since he has lived in Brazil for many years, he has first-hand experience of development issues. Salvini’s article is entitled plete Development” (“Uno sviluppo...
Results. Now.
It’s an otherwise fine story by an AP writer, but I’m on the prowl for media infelicities in the pope coverage, so silly lines get noticed: After making little headway in his efforts to rekindle the faith in his native Europe, the German-born Benedict will be visiting a country where many of the 65 million Catholics are eager to hear what he says. I like the “making little headway” clause. As though reestablishing Christendom were a matter of uttering a...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved