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Presidential Inauguration
Washington, D.C. . Jan 18-21, 2025

What’s the history of the presidential inauguration? Here are all the dates of presidential inaugurations from George Washington to Donald Trump:

PRESIDENT FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH
George Washington 4/30/1789 3/4/1793
John Adams 3/4/1797
Thomas Jefferson 3/4/1801 3/4/1805
James Madison 3/4/1809 3/4/1813
James Monroe 3/4/1817 3/5/1821
John Quincy Adams 3/4/1825
Andrew Jackson 3/4/1829 3/4/1833
Martin Van Buren 3/4/1837
William Henry Harrison 3/4/1841
John Tyler 4/6/1841
James Knox Polk 3/4/1845
Zachary Taylor 3/5/1849
Millard Fillmore 7/10/1850
Franklin Pierce 3/4/1853
James Buchanan 3/4/1857
Abraham Lincoln 3/4/1861 3/4/1865
Andrew Johnson 4/15/1865
Ulysses S. Grant 3/4/1869 3/4/1873
Rutherford B. Hayes 3/5/1877
James A. Garfield 3/4/1881
Chester Arthur 9/20/1881
Grover Cleveland 3/4/1885
Benjamin Harrison 3/4/1889
Grover Cleveland 3/4/1893
William McKinley 3/4/1897 3/4/1901
Theodore Roosevelt 9/14/1901 3/4/1905
William Howard Taft 3/4/1909
Woodrow Wilson 3/4/1913 3/5/1917
Warren G. Harding 3/4/1921
Calvin Coolidge 8/3/1923 3/4/1925
Herbert Hoover 3/4/1929
Franklin D. Roosevelt 3/4/1933 1/20/1937 1/20/1941 1/20/1945
Harry S. Truman 4/12/1945 1/20/1949
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1/20/1953 1/21/1957
John F. Kennedy 1/20/1961
Lyndon B. Johnson 11/22/1963 1/20/1965
Richard M. Nixon 1/20/1969 1/20/1973
Gerald R. Ford 8/9/1974
Jimmy Carter 1/20/1977
Ronald Reagan 1/20/1981 1/21/1985
George Bush 1/20/1989
William J. Clinton 1/20/1993 1/20/1997
George W. Bush 1/20/2001 1/20/2005
Barack Obama 1/20/2009 1/21/2013
Donald J. Trump 1/20/2017

Source: History in Pieces

Inauguration Day Schedule History

“Since 1937, Inauguration Day takes place on January 20 following a presidential election. The term of a president commences at noon (ET) on that day, when the Chief Justice administers the oath to the president. However, when January 20 falls on a Sunday, the Chief Justice administers the oath to the president on that day privately and then again in a public ceremony the next day, on Monday, January 21. The most recent presidential inauguration ceremony was the swearing in of Donald Trump to a four-year term of office on Friday, January 20, 2017.

The only inauguration element mandated by the United States Constitution is that the president make an oath or affirmation before that person can “enter on the Execution” of the office of the presidency. However, over the years, various traditions have arisen that have expanded the inauguration from a simple oath-taking ceremony to a day-long event, including parades, speeches, and balls.”

Source: Wikipedia