Throughout history, the presidential inaugurations have looked different with presidents making their own additions and changes.
The first inauguration, of George Washington, was on April 30, 1789, in New York City. John Adams had his in Philadelphia on March 4, 1797, before the ceremony moved to the new capitol of Washington D.C.
Dr. Ryan Bixby, history professor at Three Rivers College, said the one main thread through every inauguration is the oath. Each president can choose the book used for the oath — some chose family Bibles, others have used historical ones — but the words have remained the same.
Washington’s was held on a balcony in NYC, he said.
Over the years, presidents have added parades, the fashion has changed and traditions have been developed. However, every inauguration has stood for one thing; the peaceful transition of power, Bixby said.
“It’s that representative mark of showing that transition of power from one person in office to the next and that it’s a peaceful transfer of power,” he said. “Other countries have not always had a peaceful transition and that’s been one of the hallmarks of our system, even if somebody disagrees with each other, somebody like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. John Adams did not go to Jefferson’s inauguration, but yet he still respected the process and allowed Jefferson to take over in 1801.”
Former President Donald Trump is now the fourth instance in history when a sitting president has not attended the inauguration of the incoming president, Bixby said. John Adams in 1801, John Quincy Adams in 1829 and Andrew Johnson in 1869 did not attend the next president’s inauguration, which means Trump is the first president in 150 years to not attend the ceremony.
“It’s not commonplace,” Bixby said. “It’s one of those what ifs, of what if Nixon would have stuck through for his other term, who knows if he would have gone and done it as well, but it’s one of those we’ll never know since he was replaced by Ford.”
The ability to broadcast the inauguration, first through radio then TV and now streaming, helped bring the American people into the experience, Bixby said. Before, you would need to come to D.C. to see it happen, but that was no longer the case.
“Even if you weren’t in DC, you could participate,” Bixby said. “It almost gave the American people this idea that they are seeing the process go through, and that you can put trust within the process that even if you can’t be there, you can see that this person is being elected and that this person has taken office.
“By broadcasting, it’s giving that confidence to the American people that through any issues that we do have. that this is the guaranteed thing. Just like every Jan. 1 is a new year. We’re going to be guaranteed that on this date, a peaceful transition will occur, no matter what happens. Now you can participate, you can see it, so many different ways than you ever could before.”
As the inauguration has grown over the years, the coronavirus kept it smaller this time around with restrictions on the number of people in attendance, mask requirements and social distancing. Due to these limitations, more of it was shared online and virtually than before.
Bixby said he expects things won’t go back to exactly how they were before the pandemic, with future inaugurations included.
“For that I think it will go down in history as being different,” he said. “Even during the Civil War, you had people in D.C. at Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration but yet it wasn’t restricted like it is now.”
Things don’t start out as a tradition, but develop into one over time.
“Things like getting out of the limo and walking down the street,” he said. “That was something that just, along the way, became a tradition.”