United States presidential inauguration

Recitation of the presidential oath of office is the only component in this ceremony mandated by the United States Constitution (in Article II, Section One, Clause 8).

Since the 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan, the ceremony has been held at the west front of the United States Capitol facing the National Mall with its iconic Washington Monument and distant Lincoln Memorial.

[a] Over the years, various traditions have arisen that have expanded the inauguration from a simple oath-taking ceremony to a day-long event, including parades and multiple social gatherings.

To facilitate a quick presidential transition under extraordinary circumstances, the new president takes the oath of office in a simple ceremony and usually addresses the nation afterward.

[citation needed] All subsequent (regular) inaugurations from 1793 until 1933 were held on March 4, the day of the year on which the federal government began operations under the U.S. Constitution in 1789.

[citation needed] Inauguration Day moved to January 20, beginning in 1937, following ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, where it has remained since.

[10] In 2025, the second inauguration of Donald Trump was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda due to polar vortex and extreme cold.

Since the 1981 first inauguration of Ronald Reagan, they have been held on the Capitol's west front; a move designed to both cut costs and to provide more space for spectators.

[citation needed] The Joint Task Force National Capital Region, composed of service members from all branches of the United States Armed Forces, including Reserve and National Guard components, is responsible for all military support to ceremonies and to civil authorities for the inaugural period (in 2017, January 15–24).

[citation needed] Around or after 12 noon, the president takes the oath of office, usually administered by the chief justice of the United States, and then delivers the inaugural address.

The current form, which is also recited by senators, representatives, and other government officers, has been in use since 1884: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

Circuit Court, administered the oath of office to John Tyler in 1841 when he succeeded to the presidency upon William Henry Harrison's death, and to Millard Fillmore in 1850 when Zachary Taylor died.

[32][33] Most recently, federal judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One after John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.

By convention, incoming presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible or other book while taking the oath of office.

[43] Immediately after the presidential oath, the United States Marine Band will perform four "ruffles and flourishes", followed by "Hail to the Chief", while simultaneously, a 21-gun salute is fired using artillery pieces from the Presidential Guns Salute Battery, 3rd United States Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard" located in Taft Park, north of the Capitol.

After taking his oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall, he proceeded to the Senate chamber where he read a speech before members of Congress and other dignitaries.

[48] At times a major public or broadcast prayer service takes place after the main ceremony most recently on the next day.

[50] The following poetry readings have taken place: Over the years, various inauguration traditions have arisen that have expanded the event from a simple oath-taking ceremony to a day-long one, including parades, speeches, and balls.

More recently, in 1973, the celebrations marking Richard Nixon's second inauguration were altered because of the death of former president Lyndon B. Johnson two days after the ceremony.

Following the arrival of the presidential entourage to the White House, it is customary for the president, vice-president, their respective families and leading members of the government and military to review an inaugural parade from an enclosed stand at the edge of the North Lawn, a custom begun by James Garfield in 1881.

The parade, which proceeds along 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the stand and the Front Lawn in view of the presidential party, features both military and civilian participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia; this parade largely evolved from the post-inaugural procession to the White House, and occurred as far back as Jefferson's second inauguration in 1805, when workers from the Washington Navy Yard, accompanied by military music, marched with the president[60] on foot as he rode on horseback from the Capitol to the White House.

By the time of William Henry Harrison's inauguration in 1841, political clubs and marching societies would regularly travel to Washington for the parade.

Reviving the idea in 1989, President George H. W. Bush invited the public to a "White House American Welcome" on the day after the inaugural.

In 1945, at the height of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt's fourth Inauguration was simple and austere with no fanfare or formal celebration following the event.

[69] The modern tradition of a public interfaith service at the Washington National Cathedral (which belongs to the Episcopal Church) began in 1933, following the first inauguration of Franklin D.

[citation needed] Beginning with George Washington, there has been a traditional association with Inauguration festivities and the production of a presidential medal.

With the District of Columbia attracting thousands of attendees for inauguration, presidential medals were an inexpensive souvenir for the tourists to remember the occasion.

To achieve this goal, the president hired Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a famous American sculptor, to design and create his inauguration medal.

[75] Saint-Gaudens' practice of creating a portrait sculpture of the newly elected president is still used today in presidential medal creation.

[75] The Smithsonian Institution and The George Washington University hold the two most complete collections of presidential medals in the United States.