The National Mall was closed to keep people away, so we will all be spared another comparison of the crowd size, especially since Donald Trump’s Twitter was shut down. The threat of violent protests by Trump supporters who deny the elections and the presence of National Guard troops will prevent anyone from forgetting Trump’s turbulent leadership, or lack thereof.
In any case, the future ex-president will have already fled to Florida, instead of staying in Washington to see his successor take the oath of office. Instead of the inaugural balls, there will be a TV special hosted by Tom Hanks.
It will be unusual, but it will still be an inauguration.
None of the pompous ones – possession balls, possession parades, possession lunches – is provided for in the Constitution.
To take over a new president, now that the electoral votes have been counted, it is enough for Biden to say these words, which are written in the Constitution, at noon on January 20:
“I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States and, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the United States Constitution.”
Who swears on the new president?
Usually, the President of the United States Supreme Court administers the oath, but that is a custom, not a requirement. If the president of the court is not available, it may be another judge. Calvin Coolidge’s father, a judge of peace, took the oath to his son in the family living room in Vermont after the death of Warren G. Harding. The only woman to swear an oath of office to a president was Sarah Hughes, a federal district judge in Texas, who was drafted into Air Force One after JFK’s assassination to make LBJ president.
Does the president need to put his hand on the Bible?
Most presidents employed Bibles. Obama used two at the same time! But this is a custom. Theodore Roosevelt did not use one.
Is Biden obliged to give an inaugural speech?
Technically, there is no need for an inaugural speech, although all elected presidents have made one. Some are short (George Washington’s second was 135 words) and some are long (William Henry Harrison’s was over 8,000 words and the tradition is that he caught a cold during application and died of pneumonia a month later). It is a valuable custom for a new president to use the address to set out his (or, in the future, her) agenda and move on with what may have been a blunt campaign.
What were some of the best opening speeches?
Abraham Lincoln, after the states split due to his election, tried to keep the nation together in his first inauguration. In his second, after the bloody Civil War, and with his future murderer in the audience, he tried to sew it up with “malice towards no one and charity for all”.
Teddy Roosevelt spoke about the importance of American democracy not only for Americans, but for humanity.
FDR said that the only thing Americans should fear was “fear itself”.
JFK said you should be wondering what you could do for your country.
And Ronald Reagan, by contrast, said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Trump used his inaugural speech to talk about how he would end the “American carnage”, but since the Capitol Police recently had to retake Hill from a rowdy crowd of electoral deniers who supported Trump, you must assume he has failed.
What will Biden say?
Pay special attention to how Biden refers to his predecessor, who will soon face an impeachment process, during his inaugural speech.
What’s different this year?
Very.
Biden originally planned to make a statement when he arrived in Washington via Amtrak from Wilmington, Delaware, where the train station bears his name – a testament to the days when he was a senator and used to make the round trip home to be with his children. This has been canceled.
Usually, members of Congress get a series of tickets to distribute at will. This year, each of them gets +1. The public is being encouraged to stay away and the National Mall will be closed. There will be no public parade from the Capitol to the White House, but a virtual parade bringing people from all over the country.
The inaugural balls – they are usually multiple and the new president makes a brief appearance in several – will be replaced by a TV show produced with stars like Hanks and Justin Timberlake. This will be very similar to the opening of Covid.
Who will be at the opening ceremony itself?
All normal VIPs, members in and out of the cabinet, legislators and Supreme Court judges are likely to attend, as is the vice president who is leaving Mike Pence. Trump, no. It is rare, but not unprecedented, for a president to skip the transfer of power.
Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga will add some show-biz brilliance to the ceremony, which will still take place on the West Front of the US Capitol, looking at an empty mall, a demonstration of defiance to the people who broke into the Capitol on January 6, perhaps. But also a reminder that this is a very unique start for a new administration. See More information.
Has the city ever been blocked during an inauguration?
Andrew Johnson took an oath after Lincoln’s death and how John Wilkes Booth was being pursued. At that time, according to The New York Times that day, travel outside the city was restricted.
Has there ever been such a silent opening?
There are precedents for reduced opening ceremonies, even for an elected president. FDR took his fourth term oath – something now prohibited by the 22nd Amendment, which allows only two terms – at the White House at the height of World War II.
Has an opening ever been completely out of control?
Andrew Jackson, Trump’s favorite president, had to flee the White House when his supporters came to see him. They destroyed the place.
