Inauguration Day

January 20th is a historical date for Americans. Every four years, the President of the United States is inaugurated on that day. The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. After the oath is administered, the president gives an address, usually one emphasizing national unity. After the oath is administered, the president gives an address that is traditionally about emphasizing national unity.

The first American presidential inaugurations did not look similar to know what we know today! Our first President and founding father, George Washington, took the presidential oath on the balcony of New York City’s Federal Hall on April 30th, 1789. His second inauguration took place on March 4, 1793, at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, which was then the nation’s capital. They were much more modest affairs. Washington had the shortest inauguration speech in history, only 135 words, at his second inauguration on March 4, 1793. It was only in 1801 that Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be sworn in in the nation’s new capital, Washington, D.C.,

Even the date of January 20th for Presidential Inaugurations is relatively recent. Starting in 1793, the Constitution of the United States had originally established March 4 as Inauguration Day. This was in order to allow enough time for officials to travel and gather election results. With modern advances in communication and transportation, the lengthy transition period proved unnecessary and legislators pressed for change. The date was moved to January 20 with the passage of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933 and the first meeting of the new Congress to January 3. The swearing in of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 was the first January 20th Inauguration Day.

Fun Fact: On years when January 20 is a Sunday, a private swearing-in ceremony occurs with the public oath of office taken on January 21, which has happened three times.

Private Home Health Care makes a toast to continuing the tradition of a peaceful America!