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Inaugural traditions: Does the date shift? [1]
['Noelani Kirschner']
Date: 2025-01-18 15:00:00+00:00
This is one in a series of stories about presidential inaugural traditions. The other stories are about the site of the inauguration, the inaugural address, the parade and inaugural balls.
Every four years, roughly 75 days after Americans elect their next president, the incumbent’s term ends and the new president’s term begins with a daylong presidential inauguration.
There are many, many traditions that date back to George Washington’s first inauguration in 1789, and a handful have stood the test of time. Traditions evolve, of course, and recent presidents have started some that speak to their modern times.
For example, the date and time of the inauguration were once different than they are today.
Until the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1933, Inauguration Day was March 4. (In earlier days, a president, vice president and the new Cabinet members needed a fair amount of time to move to Washington.)
Since 1937, new presidents have been sworn in on January 20. Despite the winter weather, it is a day filled with events.
At exactly noon Washington time, on January 20, the new president takes the oath of office. The short oath (just 35 words) is administered by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The president repeats these words after the justice: “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.”
During the oath, the president places his hand on a Bible. George Washington began that tradition in 1789, and most presidents have followed suit, though they can choose another book (John Quincy Adams, for example, swore his oath on a law book).
At that moment, the president-elect officially becomes president of the United States.
Several presidents have taken their oaths on their own family Bibles while others have used their predecessors’. Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013, and Donald J. Trump in 2017, used Abraham Lincoln’s family Bible.
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