The History of Inauguration Day, From George Washington to Joe Biden

The Presidential Inauguration is January 20th as a result of a twentieth century change to the U.S. Constitution. Originally, it was March 4th.

Inauguration Day is a crucial moment in American democracy, a celebration of the peaceful transfer of power even in the most divided of times.

For a new American president, there is no formula to follow when writing an inaugural address. In fact, an address isn’t even required by the US Constitution.

Why the presidency has seemed like a prison ever since.

The country was young, and many were excited about the peaceful transition of power after a bruising election. But not John Adams.

One society leader compared the sight to the sacking of Versailles.

On the eve of his first inauguration, President Lincoln snuck into Washington at night, evading the would-be assassins who waited for him in Baltimore.

Frederick Douglass called it “a sacred effort,” and Lincoln himself thought that his Second Inaugural, which offered a theodicy of the Civil War, was better than the Gettysburg Address.

It’s been 152 years since Andrew Johnson decided not to attend the swearing-in of Ulysses S. Grant.

What the battle between Herbert Hoover and FDR can teach us.

Washington had never seen anything like it: the tidal wave of glamour, promise, and high spirits that descended on the capital for the 1961 inauguration of the youngest president ever elected, John F. Kennedy.

How Congressman John Lewis experienced President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.

From drunk vice presidents to poisoned pigeons, anything can happen on Inauguration Day—and often does, as these 35 fascinating facts prove.