Inauguration Day
On January 20th, at 9 AM, Donald Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States.
But Inauguration Day wasn't always in the middle of January.
(image courtesy White House Historical Society)Weather Challenges
America's brand new government was supposed to start work on March 4, 1789, but bad weather pushed it back until April 6th, when enough members of Congress could get to New York to count the electors' votes.
It took another few days to get word to George Washington, who traveled by horseback, coach, and finally a barge that was rowed across the Hudson River to Manhattan.
He was finally sworn in on April 30th and delivered a speech now called an Inaugural Address.
(image courtesy National Park Service)Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be sworn in in Washington, D.C.
While other dignitaries took their finest carriages to the Capitol for Thomas Jefferson's inauguration, Jefferson walked. He then walked back to his boarding house for dinner.
For his second term, Jefferson arrived on horseback. By then, the "President's House" was finished and his journey down Pennsylvania Avenue to what we now call the White House inspired an impromptu celebration of music and cheering crowds - the precursor of today's Inaugural Parade.
Jefferson also began another tradition: the Open House, inviting the public to the Executive Mansion for a party.
(painting courtesy of White House Historical Association)The Party's Over
There was an Open House after Andrew Jackson was sworn in in 1829, but the enthusiastic crowd got out of hand. In their rush to the refreshment table, people crashed into furniture and shoved servants carrying the food. A bowl of spiked orange punch spilled all over the carpet. People stood on the furniture to get a look at the new president. Jackson reportedly had to crawl out a window to escape the mob.
(image courtesy National Park Service)It took an amendment to the Constitution to change the date
That four month delay between Election Day and Inauguration Day became a problem when a national crisis broke out. Both Abraham Lincoln (the Civil War) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (the Great Depression) could do nothing to intervene until their March swearing-in.
Finally, in 1933, the 20th Amendment was ratified, changing the date of Inauguration Day to January 20th.
Fina Mendoza has not attended a presidential inauguration. Yet.
But back in my reporting days, Kitty Felde was lucky enough to snag a nearly front-row seat! It was very exciting. And very cold.
Fina will experience Inauguration Day in Book 5 of the Fina Mendoza Mysteries: LET KIDS VOTE! It will be published in 2027.