Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
5 facts about Inauguration Day
5 facts about Inauguration Day
Dec 5, 2025 4:50 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
In praise of Waughian conservatism
While working on a recording together, Johnny Cash is reported to have asked Bob Dylan if he knew “Ring of Fire.” Dylan said he did and began to play it on the piano, croaking it out in typical Dylanesque fashion. When he was done he turned to his friend and said, “It goes something like that, right?” “No,” said Cash shaking his head. “It doesn’t go like that at all.” I can understand how Cash felt; I often get the...
A Quaker economist’s lesson on seeking the truth together
There are several things, universally known, which one is never supposed to discuss over dinner: religion, politics, and money. I violate this generally well regarded rule on a regular basis while never impeding my digestion. My secret? I try, in the words of the prayer of St. Francis, not to seek so much to be understood as to understand. During the course of the discussion there es a time when my interest and inquiry is reciprocated. I try and focus...
Sphere sovereignty and limited (and legitimate) government
The Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper is well-known for his articulation of sphere sovereignty, and the following passage from the third volume of his Common Grace trilogy is a clear and balanced summary of this doctrine, particularly as it relates to the limits of government action. In this chapter he is addressing the question of whether mon grace that impacts social life and society is exclusively mediated through government or not: There can therefore be no disputing the independent...
The El Paso shooting: The rise of Racial Collectivist Terrorism
On Sunday, the nation’s heart broke again as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius opened fire inside an El Paso Walmart, killing 22 people and injuring at least 26 individuals between the ages of two and 82. Minutes before the shooting, Crusius took to the website 8chan to post a manifesto that cobbles together racial and economic collectivism with environmental extremism in a way distinctive of the Alt-Right. As I noted in my Acton University lecture on the subject, the term Alt-Right as...
What is currency manipulation?
Yesterday the Treasury Department took the unusual step of designating China a currency manipulator. Secretary Mnuchin, under the auspices of President Trump, made the change, saying, “In recent days, China has taken concrete steps to devalue its currency, while maintaining substantial foreign exchange reserves despite active use of such tools in the past.” In this video from 2017, CNBC explains what it means for a country to manipulate its currency. (For a more in-depth explanation, see this post.) ...
Letter from China: Civic virtue without freedom?
I spent most of July traveling to various parts of the People’s Republic of China. Although I made brief trips to Hong Kong in 2000 and Beijing in 2016, I have never experienced anything remotely similar to this more extended stay. Having a Chinese-speaking guide and the opportunity to speak to “friendly” locals (none of whom can be named out of concerns for their safety) provided more perspective than a tourist would normally have. It would be foolish for an...
Acton Line podcast: Discrimination against faith-based adoption agencies; Lessons from the fall of ancient Rome
A crisis in the adoption and foster system is currently plaguing the nation. With over 400,000 children in need of homes, a shortage of placements is driving some states to desperate measures, even housing children in hotels and office buildings. States should be working to support and safeguard the work of adoption and foster care providers, however discrimination motivated by anti-religious bias is posing an obstacle to some state contracted and private agencies. Kate Anderson, senior legal counsel at Alliance...
Milton Friedman on business as an enemy of enterprise
Milton Friedman is one half of the duo so often identified with “neoliberalism” (the other being Friedrich Hayek), the hegemonic power that is typically seen as constitutive of our contemporary age. Friedman was a brilliant thinker, and one whose ideas warrant attention, not least because of their association with today’s political and economic situation. Oftentimes neoliberalism is connected with an ideology of privatization, which is itself seen as policy intended to empower and prioritize the interests of business and industry....
WSJ profiles the Acton Institute, the antidote to ‘woke’ capitalism?
The Acton Institute reached an international audience of influencers this weekend with its mission of uniting markets with morality. The Wall Street Journalpublished a profile of Acton, and an extended look at the ministry of Acton co-founder Fr. Robert Sirico, in its “Weekend Interview” feature on Saturday, August 3. “When the Market Meets Morality” by William McGurn introduced a critical group of thought leaders to Acton’s work of promoting a free and virtuous society. McGurn writes that, like Lord Acton,...
Magic cards and market forces
Back in the 1990s, the debut of Magic: The Gathering marked a new form of gaming: collectible card games. While many may remember it similarly to Pogs, for example, Magic survived where Pogs did not. In fact, Magic is more popular now than ever. In 2018, I co-wrote and presented a paper on the topic for the Association of Private Enterprise Education that detailed its popularity: Magic: The Gathering … is played by millions of people around the world, with...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved