RSS
Home
Inauguration factoids from firsts to fisticuffs
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Which President’s inaugural speech led, indirectly, to his death? Which White House inaugural receptions turned into near riots? Which President wore a lock of Lincoln’s hair at his Inauguration -- aside from Lincoln, of course. Which President was lassoed during his inaugural parade?
Inaugurations have bizarre as well as historic aspects. Here are some factoids I’ve compiled from the Joint Congressional Committee on the Inaugural Ceremonies (thanks for the image above), “Presidential Inaugurations” (Harcourt, Inc.) and "Presidential Anecdotes" (Oxford University Press) by Paul F. Boller, Jr., among other books, and the White House:
George Washington wrote that he felt like “a culprit who is going to the place of execution…” just before the first Presidential inauguration almost 220 years ago in 1789.
At Washington’s second inaugural, his speech was only 133 words, still the shortest inaugural address. He wore his dress sword with richly-ornamented hilt, diamond knee buckles, and black silk stockings.
John Adams wore a plain gray suit for his 1797 inauguration where he thought he might faint “in the Presence of the world,” he wrote to his wife Abigail.
James Madison’s 1809 inauguration was the first to have a ball on inauguration day. Tickets (unscalped) cost $4.
James Monroe in 1817 was the first to take the oath outdoors -- The Senate and the House had a tiff over what chairs to use in the House chamber for the swearing-in. Think today’s politics get petty? The ceremony, the first one open to the public, took place outside the Old Brick Capitol, where the Supreme Court now stands across from the U.S. Capitol.
Snow forced James Monroe’s second inauguration inside in 1821 -- the House and Senate must’ve worked out their chair controversy.
John Quincy Adams took the oath not on a Bible, but on a volume of U.S. laws in 1825. "Old Man Eloquent" was the first to wear long trousers instead of knee britches. He enjoyed swimming in the nude before daybreak in the Potomac River. Once someone made off with his clothes, and he got a young passerby to bring clothes from the White House.
In 1829, outgoing President John Quincy Adams did not attend Andrew Jackson’s inaugural after their bitter election campaign. Jackson blamed the verbal attacks of Adams and his followers for the fatal heart attack of his wife, Rachel, a few weeks before his inauguration. Jackson fled his public inaugural reception when crowds overran the White House, had fisticuffs over the food, broke some china, and tore down curtains.
William Henry Harrison in 1841 gave the longest inaugural address ever which led, indirectly, to the shortest presidency. His almost 8,500 word-address ran about one hour, 40 minutes in frigid weather. He "caught pneumonia while delivering his inaugural address and died just thirty days later," according to "The Mortal Presidency" by Robert E. Gilbert (Basic Books), among other sources.
Zachary Taylor, “Old Rough and Ready”, had only a slightly longer term. Seeming more old than rough or ready, Taylor died four months into his presidency, apparently of food poisoning or at least acute dyspepsia at one of his three 1849 inaugural balls. Almost 150 years later, speculation that he had been murdered by arsenic poisoning was put to rest by forensic tests on his exhumed corpse, according to "The New York Times" and "The Mortal Presidency".
Franklin Pierce was the only President to “solemnly affirm” the oath of office instead of “solemnly swear” it on a Bible in 1853. Pierce never explained why, but only weeks before his 1853 inauguration, his 11-year-old son had been crushed to death in a train accident. The thought was that "Pierce felt God had punished him for something," historian Boller told me in an interview.
As Pierce's campaign biography said, Pierce "is deep, deep, deep." That bio was written by none other than Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pierce's former classmate at Bowdoin College.
James Buchanan’s 1857 inauguration ball had one of the most elaborate feasts. Delicacies included $3000 worth of wine, 400 gallons of oysters, 500 quarts of chicken salad, 1200 quarts of ice cream, 60 saddles of mutton, eight rounds of beef, 75 hams -- and 125 tongues. Mmm good.
At Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration in 1865, African Americans marched in the parade for the first time. His inaugural reception was one of the wilder ones. Crowds rushed into the White House and took souvenirs of punch bowls, china, pieces of draperies, and much else.
Ulysses S. Grant’s second inauguration, in1873, was one of the coldest on record. The wind chill dipped to minus 30 degrees.
At the $10-a- ticket ball, the decorative caged canaries froze to death. The feast, including stuffed boars’ heads, froze too.
Theodore Roosevelt wore a ring containing a lock of Lincoln's hair at Teddy’s 1905 inauguration. Seems a soft touch for "Rough Rider" Roosevelt. As we know, President-elect Obama will be using the Bible that Lincoln used at his 1861 swearing-in. I'd rather not know whether Obama wears the Lincoln locks ring.
In 1913, for the first time since 1853, no inaugural ball was held, because President Woodrow Wilson deemed it inappropriate for such a solemn occasion.
The first time women were allowed to participate in an inaugural parade was 1917! Woodrow Wilson let females participate for his second inaugural. However, the day before, Wilson had ignored 500 suffragists demonstrating for three hours outside the White House, and refused to meet with their representatives seeking his support for the 19th Amendment. Thanks to suffragists like them, women finally got the vote three years later when the 19th Amendment was ratified.
By Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inauguration in 1933, the country was deep in the Great Depression. Eleanor Roosevelt described that inauguration as "...a little terrifying. The crowds were so tremendous, and you felt that they would do anything -- if only someone would tell them what to do," according to the book "Eleanor and Franklin" by Joseph P. Lash.
Harry Truman’s second inauguration was the first to be televised, in 1949, and the ball was the first to be racially integrated.
Dwight Eisenhower was lassoed by a cowboy in the 1953 inaugural parade as the wrangler passed the reviewing stand. The Secret Service approved but Ike was irked, according to his book “Mandate for Change, 1953-1956: The White House Years”.
Ronald Reagan’s inaugurations had both the warmest and the coldest temperatures. His 1981 one was the warmest ever recorded, 55 degrees at noon, and his 1985 one was the coldest, 7 degrees at noon.
Reagan's inaugurations were the first I ever covered. In 1985, the ink froze in all the pens I carried, so I kept thawing them up by surreptitiously sticking them in my bra. If anyone was watching me instead of the parade, the fireworks, or the five balls I attended, I really didn’t care. Yes, it was cold even in some of those balls.
The traffic barely moves throughout inauguration day and night, even in years past. I always had to walk along The Mall for several balls that are held in museums. The most fun by far were the Bushes' “Black Tie and Boots” balls, including one with an armadillo and alligator. The Texas two-step is a helluva lot better at parties than in politics. Yep, I’m a Texpatriate.
With ObamaInaugura only days away -- Washington, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Related Articles:
Comments
The Cotswolds, a region called “The Heart of England”, is a Christmas card come to life. Nestled in the snow are glistening limestone …
James Rosenquist, one of the most successful and revered contemporary artists, spoke of his 1930s North Dakota boyhood -- with no electricity, …
- Arena Stage
- Atlas Performing Arts Center
- Corcoran Gallery of Art
- Dance Place
- Dumbarton Oaks Museum & Gardens
- Folger Shakespeare Library and Theatre
- Ford's Theatre
- Hillwood Museum & Gardens
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Library of Congress
- Lincoln Theatre
- National Gallery of Art
- National Museum of American Art
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of Women in the Arts
- National Portrait Gallery
- National Symphony Orchestra
- National Theatre
- Phillips Collection
- Renwick Gallery
- Shakespeare Theatre Company
- Smithsonian Institution
- Strathmore Hall
- Studio Theatre
- TICKETPLACE -- Half-price plus fees day of performance
- Vocal Arts Society
- Warner Theatre
- Washington Ballet
- Washington National Opera
- Washington Performing Arts Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
