Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask where your country’s leaders were inaugurated so you can visit.
Technically, all that’s required for an inauguration is for the incoming President to take the oath of office. But, the good ol’ US of A likes to do it up big. It’s a full day event with speeches, a parade, and all kinds of other traditions.
I’m not going to get into all that pomp and circumstance in this post. Rather than go into detail about the “What”, this is going to be a higher-level look at the “Where.”
But first, a bit on the “When.” Up through 1933, inaugurations generally took place on March 4th. Then the 20th Amendment changed the date to January 20th. But there have been exceptions. From the beginning, if the would-be Inauguration Day falls on a Sunday, the public ceremony is delayed until the next day. Also, several inaugurations have not happened according to schedule, due to death, resignation, or (in the case of the very first Presidential inauguration), travel delays.
A bit of housekeeping before I dive in: Some places will use the term “inauguration” exclusively for the regularly-scheduled formal ceremonies that take place every four years. In these posts I’m using the word “inauguration” broadly, to include the unplanned, low-key swearing-ins that happen when the VP takes over in a middle of a term.
Where does the Inauguration Take Place?
At the US Capitol, right? Mostly. While inaugurations have occurred at ten other locations, the majority have happened at the Capitol. However, they haven’t always been in the same part of the building.
To keep this from getting unwieldy, I’ll be focusing on just the US Capitol locations in this post, and covering the rest in as part of a series:
Part One: Inaugurations at the US Capitol
Part Two: Inaugurations elsewhere in Washington, DC
Part Three: Inaugurations outside of Washington, DC
Part Four: Bonus Inaugurations
Wait…what are Bonus Inaugurations? Well, sometimes the President take the Oath of Office more than once at the start of their term. Bonus Inaugurations are the duplicates. More on that in Part Four.
Below is a (sorta) chronological listing of different places at the Capitol where Presidents took the oath of office. The spots are ordered by the date of the first inauguration to occur there.
Original Senate Chamber (aka the Old Supreme Court Chamber)
Inauguration Count: 2
Years: 1801, 1805
Thomas Jefferson was the first President to be inaugurated in Washington DC. Both of his inaugurations took place in the US Capitol’s original Senate chamber, which pre-dated both the current Senate chamber and the room now referred to as the “Old Senate Chamber.” The room has served multiple purposes over time, and is currently called the “Old Supreme Court Chamber.”
Visiting: The chamber is on the standard US Capitol tour. It has been restored to look as it did when the Supreme Court occupied the space, but the room’s full history, including the inaugurations, is covered by the tour guide. I visited the chamber as part of the tour in February of 2018.
Old Hall of the House (aka National Statuary Hall)
Inauguration Count: 6
Years: 1809, 1813, 1821, 1825, 1833, 1850
James Madison was able to hold both of his inaugurations in the former home of the House of Representatives before the British burned the Capitol in 1814. The current room was reconstructed in the same spot, and the House moved back in from 1819-1857. During this period, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Millard Fillmore were each inaugurated here once (Monroe’s and Jackson’s first inaugurations took place elsewhere). The room is also noteworthy because, following his Presidency, John Quincy Adams died here while serving in the House.
Visiting: Since 1864, the space has been used to display statues of prominent Americans. It’s now called National Statuary Hall and you can catch it on the standard Capitol Tour. I visited in February of 2018.
East Portico
Inauguration Count: 35
Years: 1829, 1837, 1841 (March), 1845, 1849, 1853, 1857, 1861, 1865 (March), 1869, 1873, 1877, 1881 (March), 1885, 1889, 1893, 1897, 1901 (March), 1905, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933, 1937, 1941, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1969, 1973, 1977
For more than half of all Presidential inaugurations, the East Portico was the place to be. Of the 27 presidents from Andrew Jackson up through Jimmy Carter, 20 of them were inaugurated in this spot at least once. However, they were not all inaugurated on the same East Portico. Between Eisenhower’s second inauguration in 1957 and Kennedy’s 1961 swearing in, the east front of the building was completely torn down and rebuilt to better complement the Capitol’s new dome.
Visiting: This is literally just the outside of the Capitol, so it’s easy enough to take a gander at. The current East Portico is on the side of the building facing away from the National Mall and towards the Supreme Court. While the old East Portico is long gone, there are a couple other places in DC where you can still visit its remains. All but two of the original columns are on display at the National Arboretum, and a big pile of the old stones lives in Rock Creek Park. I visited the east side of the Capitol and the columns in February of 2018, but I literally just found out about the rocks while doing some research for this post, so I’ll have to check them out sometime.
On a Platform Kinda Sorta by the East Portico
Inauguration Count: 1
Year: 1897
I’ll admit I’m a bit puzzled by the location of McKinley’s first inauguration. The use of a temporary platform is fairly common for outdoor inaugurations at the Capitol, typically centered on the building and in alignment with the dome. However McKinley’s 1897 platform is significantly offset. Some sites online list the location as the East Portico, others say it was in front of the Senate wing of the building. I’m not even sure what I would call it – in the pics I’ve seen, McKinley appears to be lined up with the spot where the two parts of the building meet. As a fan of symmetry, I don’t care for the placement.
What I do care for, however, is that video exists of this event. This was the first time an inauguration was filmed. The quality of the footage isn’t fabulous by today’s standards, but you also can’t tell from it how odd the platform placement was, so it’s a winner in my book. The YouTube link above has some fun newsreel style narration that was added at a later date.
Visting: Just see what I wrote about the East Portico above and shift it to the right about 20 yards.
Current Senate Chamber
Inauguration Count: 1
Year: 1909
William Howard Taft’s inauguration was supposed to he held outdoors, but a blizzard hit the night before and Washington was blanketed in ten inches of fresh snow. So, the big event was moved inside to the Senate Chamber so people won’t freeze (this is the same Senate Chamber that the Senate uses today, and has since 1859). While it was deemed too cold to take the oath of office outdoors, it apparently wasn’t too chilly for a full-out inauguration parade, because that went on as planned.
Visiting: You can pick up both House and Senate passes from one of your Senators’ offices (or the Capitol Visitor’s center if you are a foreign visitor) that will allow you into the gallery overlooking the chamber. When I visited in February 2018, I was a little uncertain about just popping by Marco Rubio’s office for tickets, but this turned out to be no big deal. I didn’t get to visit the Senate Chamber that day because it was closed for visitors, but I did get to stare at the empty House Chamber for a few minutes (Congress was not in session that week).
West Front
Inauguration Count: 9
Years: 1981, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017
Ah, finally we get to the inauguration spot we all know and love today: the West front of the Capitol, facing towards the Washington Monument. Festivities shifted over to the West Side starting in 1981, in part to accommodate more spectators. With one exception, Presidential Inaugurations have taken place here ever since.
Visiting: Since it faces the National Mall, the West Front is probably the most convenient part of the Capitol to see. I’ve been by there many times over the years, but only once (so far) for an inauguration, that being Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. I did originally intend to attend the 2017 inauguration, but those plans changed abruptly sometime around, oh, November 8, 2016.
Rotunda
Inauguration Count: 1
Year, 1985
Like in 1909, the weather was cold and snowy, so the inauguration ceremony was moved indoors. Unlike 1909, in 1985 the powers that be had the good sense to also cancel the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. This time around, the oath was administered in the Capitol Rotunda.
Visiting: The Rotunda is one of the stops on the standard Capitol tour, which I took in February 2018.