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The 'swearing-in of the President of the United States' occurs upon the commencement of a new term of a President of the United States. The United States Constitution mandates that the President make the following oath or affirmation before he or she can "enter on the Execution" of the office of the presidency:

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.

The swearing-in traditionally takes place at noon on Inauguration Day at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., with the Chief Justice of the United States administering the oath. From the presidency of Martin Van Buren through Jimmy Carter, the ceremony took place on the Capitol's East Portico. Since the 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan, the ceremony has been held at the Capitol's West Front. The inauguaration of William Howard Taft in 1909 and Reagan in 1985 were moved indoors at the Capitol due to cold weather. Until 1933, Inauguration Day was March 4. Since then, Inauguration Day has occurred on January 20 (the 1933 ratification of the Twentieth Amendment changed the start date of the term).
Since Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth swore in President John Adams, no Chief Justice has missed the Inauguration Day swearing-in. When Inauguration Day has fallen on a Sunday, the Chief Justice has administered the oath to the President either on innauguration day itself or on the preceding Saturday privately and the following Monday publicly. Eight presidential deaths and Richard Nixon's resignation have forced the oath of office to be administered by other officials on other days. The War of 1812 and World War II forced two swearing-ins to be held at other locations in Washington, D.C.
From 1789 through 2005, the swearing-in has been administered by 14 Chief Justices, one Associate Justice, three federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public. Though anyone legally authorized to administer an oath may swear in a President, to date the only person to do so who was not a judge was John C. Coolidge, Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary whose home the then-Vice President was visiting in 1923 when he learned of the death of President Warren G. Harding.

Contents

Details

Trivia

References

External links

Details

Date	President	Location	Administered by[1]	Scripture Verse[2][3][4]
April 30, 1789	George Washington	Balcony of Federal Hall New York, New York	Robert Livingston[5]	[6][7][8]
March 4, 1793	George Washington	Senate Chamber Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	William Cushing[9]
March 4, 1797	John Adams	House Chamber Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Oliver Ellsworth
March 4, 1801	Thomas Jefferson	Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1805	Thomas Jefferson	Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1809	James Madison	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1813	James Madison	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1817	James Monroe	In front of Old Brick Capitol (1st & A Sts., N.E.) now site of the Supreme Court Building	John Marshall
March 5, 1821	James Monroe	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1825	John Q. Adams	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall	None[10]
March 4, 1829	Andrew Jackson	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall	Unknown
March 4, 1833	Andrew Jackson	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	John Marshall
March 4, 1837	Martin Van Buren	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney	[11]
March 4, 1841	William H. Harrison	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney
April 6, 1841	John Tyler	Brown's Hotel 6th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C.	William Cranch[12]
March 4, 1845	James K. Polk	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney	Unknown
March 5, 1849	Zachary Taylor	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney	Unknown
July 10, 1850	Millard Fillmore	House Chamber, U.S. Capitol	William Cranch[13]
March 4, 1853	Franklin Pierce	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney	None[14][15]
March 4, 1857	James Buchanan	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney
March 4, 1861	Abraham Lincoln	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Roger B. Taney	[16]
March 4, 1865	Abraham Lincoln	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Salmon P. Chase	, , [17]
April 15, 1865	Andrew Johnson	Kirkwood Hotel 12th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C.	Salmon P. Chase
March 4, 1869	Ulysses S. Grant	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Salmon P. Chase
March 4, 1873	Ulysses S. Grant	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Salmon P. Chase	[18]
March 3, 1877	Rutherford B. Hayes	Red Room, White House (privately)	Morrison R. Waite	None[19]
March 5, 1877	Rutherford B. Hayes	East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly)	Morrison R. Waite	[20]
March 4, 1881	James A. Garfield	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Morrison R. Waite	[20][22]
September 20, 1881	Chester A. Arthur	Residence 123 Lexington Avenue New York City (privately)	John R. Brady[23]	None[24]
September 22, 1881	Chester A. Arthur	Office of the Vice President U.S. Capitol (publicly)	Morrison R. Waite	[20][26]
March 4, 1885	Grover Cleveland	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Morrison R. Waite	[27]
March 4, 1889	Benjamin Harrison	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller	[20]
March 4, 1893	Grover Cleveland	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1897	William McKinley	In front of Original Senate Wing U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller	[29]
March 4, 1901	William McKinley	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller	[20]
September 14, 1901	Theodore Roosevelt	Ansley Wilcox House Buffalo, New York	John R. Hazel[31]	None[24]
March 4, 1905	Theodore Roosevelt	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller	[20]
March 4, 1909	William H. Taft	Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol	Melville W. Fuller	[20]
March 4, 1913	Woodrow Wilson	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Edward D. White	[20]
March 4, 1917	Woodrow Wilson	President's Room, U.S. Capitol (privately)	Edward D. White
March 5, 1917	Woodrow Wilson	East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly)	Edward D. White
March 4, 1921	Warren G. Harding	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Edward D. White	[20]
August 3, 1923	Calvin Coolidge	His father's residence Plymouth, Vermont	John C. Coolidge[37]
March 4, 1925	Calvin Coolidge	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	William H. Taft
March 4, 1929	Herbert C. Hoover	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	William H. Taft	None[24][20]
March 4, 1933	Franklin D. Roosevelt	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1937	Franklin D. Roosevelt	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1941	Franklin D. Roosevelt	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt	South Portico, White House	Harlan F. Stone
April 12, 1945	Harry S. Truman	Cabinet Room, White House	Harlan F. Stone
January 20, 1949	Harry S. Truman	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Frederick M. Vinson
January 20, 1953	Dwight D. Eisenhower	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Frederick M. Vinson
January 20, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower	East Room, White House (privately)	Earl Warren
January 21, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower	East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly)	Earl Warren
January 20, 1961	John F. Kennedy	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Earl Warren
November 22, 1963	Lyndon B. Johnson	Conference room on SAM 26000 (Air Force One)[40] Love Field, Dallas, Texas	Sarah T. Hughes[41]	None[42][43]
January 20, 1965	Lyndon B. Johnson	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Earl Warren
January 20, 1969	Richard M. Nixon	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Earl Warren
January 20, 1973	Richard M. Nixon	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Warren E. Burger
August 9, 1974	Gerald R. Ford	East Room, White House	Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1977	James E. Carter	East Portico, U.S. Capitol	Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1981	Ronald W. Reagan	West Front, U.S. Capitol	Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1985	Ronald W. Reagan	North Entrance Hall White House (private, but televised)	Warren E. Burger
January 21, 1985	Ronald W. Reagan	Rotunda, U.S. Capitol (public)	Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1989	George H. W. Bush	West Front, U.S. Capitol	William Rehnquist
January 20, 1993	William J. Clinton	West Front, U.S. Capitol	William Rehnquist
January 20, 1997	William J. Clinton	West Front, U.S. Capitol	William Rehnquist
January 20, 2001	George W. Bush	West Front, U.S. Capitol	William Rehnquist	None - Bible closed
January 20, 2005	George W. Bush	West Front, U.S. Capitol	William Rehnquist
ZZZDate	ZZZPresident	ZZZLocation	ZZZAdministered by	Scripture Verse

Trivia

★ William H. Taft is the only former President to become Chief Justice, and in that capacity he administered the oath of office to both Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929).

★ Most presidents have taken the oath with their left hand on a Bible and some presidents have even selected a specific Biblical verse to place their hand on.

★ Though Reagan's initial swearing-in at the White House for his second term is properly styled as "private" (since it was not open to the public), it was televised. The same location was used later in the day when, with a National Football League official present (and in uniform), Reagan made the televised coin toss to open Super Bowl XIX.

★ President Zachary Taylor refused to take the inaugural oath on Inauguration Day, 1849, because it fell on a Sunday. He took the oath of office one day later, on March 5, 1849.

★ Chief Justice Roger Taney swore in more men as presidents then any other Chief Justice with seven: Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln. John Marshall administered more oaths of office with nine, but only swore in five men since Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson had won re-elections and were inaugurated twice.

★ President George H. W. Bush spent $30 million on his inaugural celebration, a 20th century record.

References

1. Individual named is the U.S. Chief Justice, unless otherwise indicated
2. Architect of the Capitol
3. http://www.eadshome.com/OathScripture.htm
4. http://www.beliefnet.com/features/presidents_bibles.html
5. Chancellor of the State of New York
6. Masonic Bible
7. Opened at random due to haste.
8. Bowen, Clarence W. ''The History of the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington'', N.Y. 1892, p. 72
9. Supreme Court Associate Justice
10. Used a book of US law instead of a Bible [1]
11. Files of the Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress
12. Chief Judge of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
13.
14. Affirmed instead of swearing the oath.
15. Did not kiss Bible.
16. Opened at random.
17. Wright, John. ''Historic Bibles in America'', N.Y. 1905, p. 46
18. List compiled by Clerk of the Supreme Court, 1939
19. Did not swear on any book.
20.
21.
22. One source (The Chicago Daily Tribune, Sept. 23, 1881, p. 5) says that Garfield and Arthur used the same passage, but does not indicate which one.
23. Judge, New York Supreme Court
24.
25.
26.
27. Opened at random by Chief Justice
28.
29. Bible given to him by Methodist church congregation
30.
31. U.S. District Judge (Western District of New York)
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37. His father, a notary public.
38.
39.
40. SAM 26000, this airplane's proper designation, is now at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Officially, "Air Force One" is an air traffic control call sign for any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President, though it has informally been extended to the aircraft maintained for that purpose (including SAM 26000).
41. U.S. District Judge (Northern District of Texas)
42. Used Missal
43. Mooney, Booth. ''The Lyndon Johnson Story'', p. 1

External links

★ Presidential Oaths of Office (Library of Congress)

★ Bibles and Scripture Passages Used by Presidents in Taking the Oath of Office, Library of Congress