President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter dancing at the Inaugural Ball. January 20, 1977.
Yup. That’s Ike being lassoed by a cowboy at his Inaugural Parade. January 20, 1953.
First Lady Mamie, and Vice President Richard Nixon are in the photo too, just to the right of President Eisenhower.
Singer Jane Froman at President Truman’s Inaugural Gala - January 19, 1949. The line up also included comedians Abbot and Costello, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, actor Gene Autry, and other celebs of the day.
More than 600,000 visitors came to Washington, DC for the Inaugural celebration. The parade was seven miles long. Trains arrived in the city every 2 minutes. Pullman cars in the railroad yard served as lodging for over 5,000 people.
Truman’s celebration introduced many “firsts” to Inauguration Day including the use of 2 bibles, a televised broadcast, and the debut of the current Presidential Seal.
-from the Truman Library
Franklin D. Roosevelt and his son, James, before FDR’s second inauguration in 1937. This was the first time Inauguration Day was held on January 20.
The first U.S. presidential inauguration was held for George Washington on April 30, 1789. March 4, 1793 was the date of Washington’s second inauguration, and all following presidents were sworn in on that date through FDR’s first term.
The Twentieth Amendment of 1933 changed Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20.
-from the Presidential Timeline
