US Presidential Inaugurations through the year
Dear all
In Monday’s assembly, we considered the significance of events in the US as Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, having also been the 45th following his election in 2016. Even those who know very little about Donald Trump know he divides opinion. And almost everyone has an opinion about him, usually a strong one. Many have suggested that the second Trump Presidency will be one of the most consequential in history, so it was to history we looked by considering some of the inaugurations of the previous US Presidents.
The very first inauguration took place on 30th April 1789, six weeks after it was supposed to because it took that long to get all the elected congressmen together to ratify the result. George Washington was re-elected for a second term, and his Second Inaugural Address – on 4th March 1793 – was the shortest ever, consisting of only 135 words. It had only one topic: his demand to be removed from office if he broke his Presidential Oath. He said:
If it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the most important US Presidents – his second inauguration took place towards the end of the US Civil War that had torn the nation apart. Lincoln spoke of his aspiration that the war would end and the country would heal. His speech was one of the most famous given on this occasion:
‘With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.’
Although the war did end just two months later, Lincoln was not there to see it – he had been assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who attended the inauguration when the President spoke those words.
Inauguration speeches have, from time to time, produced words that have become some of the most famous ever uttered. Franklin D Roosevelt took office in 1933 when the Great Depression had destroyed the lives of millions in the US and around the world. His belief that ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ became a mantra for the work his administration would go on to do to try and lift the country out of depression.
Roosevelt was the last President to have the longer transition period between election and taking office. Instead of March, the date for inauguration was changed to 20th January.
It was on that date that John F Kennedy took office – his speech is probably the most well known of all, because of the call for all Americans to ‘ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’
And finally, while the wait goes on for the first female President, there have been at least two inaugurations where women have played a prominent role: on the day Kennedy was assassinated, his Vice President Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One. Standing next to him was Jackie Kennedy, the wife of JFK still wearing the blood-stained jacket she had on when her husband was shot dead.
Finally, Eleanor, wife of Franklin D Roosevelt, was present when Harry Truman was sworn in on the death of her husband. The Second World War was still raging, the new President was thrown into the deep end and he famously said to her, ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ She replied in an instant, ‘Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.’
I doubt very much that anyone thought Donald Trump would say anything like this on Monday, but we should all hope and – for those who do so – pray that he will respect the intentions of the Founding Fathers that no individual should ever have untrammelled power in the United States of America.
To use Eleanor Roosevelt’s words, while he is, as of Monday, the world’s most powerful man, he may well also be ‘the one who is in trouble now’.
Have a great weekend
Best wishes
Michael Bond
