12 Presidential Inauguration Fun Facts

Posted on January 21, 2013 in Entertainment

Do you know which president was lassoed by a cowboy at his inauguration? Check out that and more below!

1. Every president since Washington, with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt, has extemporaneously added the word “so help me God” to the oath of office.

2. At 135 words, Washington’s second inaugural address was the shortest in American history.

3. The longest address was 8.445 words – nearly two hours long – was delivered by William Henry Harrison, and it likely killed him. One month after the address, he died of pneumonia.

4. Top hats were worn traditionally for decades before Lyndon Johnson did not wear won at a hastily organized inauguration on board Air Force One.

5. The Constitution does not specify who should give the oath of office to the president, but for every inauguration since John Adams in 1797, the chief justice has given the oath.

6. President Dwight Eisenhower was lassoed by a cowboy during his 1953 inauguration.

7. George Washington’s inaugural Bible, which he kissed after the oath, has been used since by four presidents including George W. Bush.

8. When a president-elect is replacing a sitting president, the two men ride together with the outgoing president sitting on the right side of the limousine’s back seat and the president-elect sitting on the left.

9. Only four living presidents have not attended the inaugurations of their successors: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon.

10. The first Inauguration took place in New York City in 1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall.

11. In 1961, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers used flamethrowers to clear heavy snow from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade route.

12. The coldest inauguration on record was Ronald Reagan’s in 1985. It was 7 degrees, forcing Reagan to take the oath of office indoors, in the U.S. Capitol. The parade was cancelled.