
Due to cold temperatures, Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. President, delivered his inaugural address in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Photo Credit: AP
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“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” novelist John Steinbeck wrote in his 1937 masterpiece.
Apparently, the best laid plans of mice and U.S. presidents on Inauguration Day can also go awry.
President-elect Donald Trump announced on social media Friday that his inauguration on Monday will be moved indoors, due to the bone-chilling temperatures and howling winds that is expected to descend on the nation’s capital.
Such unfortunate news comes as a disappointing shock to more than 250,000 ticketed guests that were expected to view the ceremony from the Capitol grounds.
The interior of the Capitol Rotunda will accommodate VIP guests and other dignitaries, but space will be extremely limited.
Reportedly, only 96 people were invited into the Rotunda January 21, 1985 for Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration, when temperatures in D.C. dropped to minus-4 degrees (a record for the date) and only reached 7 degrees at noon.
Alternatively, the Capital One Arena, a downtown D.C. stadium with a capacity of 20,000, will screen the swearing-in live and host the presidential parade, Trump announced.
The 47th U.S. president was hoping to decorate his inauguration with mountains of pomp and pageantry, including being the first president to invite world leaders to the ceremony. Argentine President Javier Milei confirmed he’ll be in attendance.
“America the Beautiful,” will be sung by country singer, Carrie Underwood, accompanied by the Armed Forces Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club.
The last seven presidential inaugurations, since George H.W. Bush in 1989, have had one or two members of the clergy offering prayers and readings, but Trump’s inauguration is scheduled to have six.
The former New York real estate mogul and reality TV star will be sworn in with two Bibles – one that Abraham Lincoln used at his 1861 inauguration, and a personal one given to him by his mother.
According to The New York Times, Trump raised more than $170 million for his inauguration, a record amount.
Despite the change of plans, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep Donald Trump from being inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

At Richard M. Nixon's second inauguration, January 20, 1973, flags were flown at half-staff in honor of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd U.S. President who died on December 26, 1972.
Photo Credit: AP
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So, as we inch closer to the inauguration, I compiled some feats, facts, and historic firsts from previous inaugurations.
• Article II, Section 1, clause 8 of the Constitution requires the President to take an oath of office.
• The President is required to recite a specific oath under the Constitution. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution spells out the presidential oath: "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 Vice President takes a different oath.
• Trump, a Presbyterian, plans to attend a private pre-inaugural prayer service with his family at St. John’s Episcopal Church, located a block from the White House.
• Prior to Donald Trump beating Kamala Harris, November, 2024, Democrat Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve nonconsecutive terms, from 1885 to 1889, and from 1893 to 1897. Trump served as the 45th U.S. President from 2017-2021.
• On December 30, President Joe Biden announced that in honor of the death of the 39th U.S. President, Jimmy Carter, December 29, 2024, he was directing that all flags of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds for a period of 30 days from the day of his death.
• Despite Biden's proclamation, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced, recently, that the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate Donald Trump's inauguration. They will then return to half-staff after the inauguration.
• When Richard M. Nixon was sworn in for a second time on January 20, 1973 at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., flags were flown at half-staff in honor of former President Harry S. Truman, who died on December 26, 1972.
• March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first President to be inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in a room now known as the “Old Supreme Court Chamber.”
• Presidents are not required to swear the oath on a Bible, though it's been a custom since George Washington’s inauguration, 1789.
• Rather than a bible, John Quincy Adams and Franklin Pierce placed their hands on a constitutional law book during their swearing in ceremony.
• After the first inauguration of George Washington was held April 30, 1789, his second was held March 4, 1793, and from that time on, March 4 was established as the official Inauguration Day.
• The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1933, moved the date of the inauguration from March 4 to January 20th.
• Several bills were introduced in the 95th and 96th Congresses (1977-1980) to make Inauguration Day a nationwide public holiday, but no further action was taken on any of those proposals.
• In 1909, Helen Taft became the first woman to accompany her husband, William Howard Taft, back to the White House as First Lady.
• On March 4, 1921, President Warren G. Harding became the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile.
• The first inaugural ball held on inauguration day at Long's Hotel in Washington, D.C., was in 1809 to honor President James Madison.
• For his second inauguration in 1905, Theodore Roosevelt wore one of Abraham Lincoln’s rings.
• President Howard Taft holds two physical distinctions: He was America’s heaviest president, weighing more than 300 pounds. He was also the last president to sport facial hair, his signature handlebar mustache.
• Chief Justice John Marshall, the longest serving chief justice in U.S. history (1801-1835), administered the presidential oath of office nine times.
• When Franklin Pierce was inaugurated March 4, 1853, he became the only president to “affirm” rather than “swear” the office of the president.
• Theodore Roosevelt, sworn in after the death of President McKinley in 1901, was the youngest president at 42. Joe Biden, age 78, was the oldest president to assume office in 2021 before being eclipsed by Donald Trump on January 20, 2025. Trump is 78, a few months older than Biden.
• Most outgoing presidents accompany their successor to the inauguration, a tradition formally begun by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren in 1837.
• In 1801, President John Adams did not attend the inauguration of his successor, Thomas Jefferson. Others, including Andrew Johnson (1869), John Quincy Adams (1829), and Richard Nixon (1974) also didn’t attend their successor’s swearing in.
• Two others, Martin Van Buren (1841) and Woodrow Wilson (1921), were inside the U.S. Capitol signing last-minute legislation but did not attend the public ceremony outside.
• Thomas Jefferson was the first to be sworn in as President in Washington, D.C., March 4, 1801.
• James Buchanan’s (1857) was the first to be photographed.
• William McKinley’s (1897) the first to be recorded by a movie camera.
• Herbert Hoover’s (1929) the first to be on a talking newsreel.
• Calvin Coolidge’s (1925) the first to be broadcast by radio.
• Harry Truman’s (1949) the first to be televised.
• Jimmy Carter’s (1977) the first to feature solar panel heating.
• Bill Clinton’s (1997), the first to be live streamed over the internet.
• Abraham Lincoln’s parade in 1865 was the first to include African Americans.
• Woodrow Wilson’s was the first to include women in 1917.
• January 20, 1965: First use of a bullet-proofed, closed limousine.
• The shortest inauguration speech? George Washington said a mere 135 words after his second inauguration in 1793. The longest? William Henry Harrison, March 4, 1841, spoke for almost two hours (8,445 words).
• Martin Van Buren, March 4, 1853, was the first president to deliver inaugural address without referring to notes.
• Sarah T. Hughes, U.S. District Judge of the Northern District of Texas, became the first woman to administer the oath November 22, 1963.
• August 3, 1923: Oath of office of Calvin Coolidge was given by the president's father, a Vermont Justice of the Peace, after the death of Warren Harding.
• In 1817, James Monroe, the 5th U.S. president, became the first to give an Inaugural Address to an assembled public crowd.
• After his inauguration, Andrew Jackson, who was regarded as the "man of the people" opened the White House to all Americans. Reportedly, a mob of about 20,000 people lumbered through the official residence, breaking and stealing items and leaving mud on furniture.
• James Madison, March 4, 1809, set the precedent of using the United States Marine Band for his inaugural ball.
• John Adams, March 4, 1797, became the first president to receive the oath from the Chief Justice of the United States (Oliver Ellsworth).
• The first inauguration to take place on East Portico of the Capitol was for Andrew Jackson in 1829.
• The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, states that no president can be elected to that role more than twice.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1945 inauguration took place during the Second World War and adopted wartime butter and sugar rations. White House cook Henrietta Nesbitt served simple unfrosted cakes to guests.
• At the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy January 20, 1961, Robert Frost became the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration. Bill Clinton in 1993 and 1997, Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013, and Joe Biden in 2021—additionally featured poets at their inaugurations.
• In keeping with his down to earth, unpretentious style, Carter used “Jimmy” instead of “James Earl” at his swearing in.
• Unlike Trump four years ago, President Joe Biden will follow examples set by all but five of his predecessors and attend his successor’s swearing-in ceremony. All of America’s living former presidents will attend the ceremony as well.
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), Greg Phillips (Troy University), the Architect of the Capitol (AOC); Council on Foreign Relations; Library of Congress; White House Historical Association; Pew Research Center.
--Bill Lucey
[email protected]
January 17, 2025
Inauguration Resources:
The Avalon Project (Yale Law School): The Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents
The White House Historical Association: Presidential Inaugurations
The Library of Congress: U.S. Presidential Inaugurations: A Resource Guide