25 Historic Firsts in Presidential Inaugurations

Barack Obama's Inauguration Makes Him the Latest Presidential First

Nov 22, 2008

First president to wear long pants to swearing-in , Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Events

President-elect Barack Obama will join an elite group of presidents who made inaugural history when he is sworn in as the nation's first black president on Jan. 20, 2009.

President-elect Barack Obama will, of course, make history as America's first black president when he is sworn-in on Jan. 20, 2009. But he is just the latest president to score an Inaugural First.

Though the accomplishments of former presidents pale to the authentic historic nature of Obama's inauguration, many of his 43 predecessors did manage to break new ground during their swearing-in ceremonies.

Who was the first president to wear long pants to his swearing-in? When were blacks first allowed to take part in the inaugural festivities? Who just couldn't just shut up when delivering his Inaugural Address?

With help from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, here is a list of 25 Inaugural Firsts:

First president inaugurated in Washington, D.C.: Thomas Jefferson, 1801
First president to include African Americans in his inaugural parade: Abraham Lincoln, 1865
First president to including women in his inaugural parade: Woodrow Wilson, 1917
First president to wear long pants to ceremony: John Quincy Adams, 1825
First president to host an inaugural ball: James Madison, 1809 (Tickets: $4)
First glass-enclosed viewing stand: William McKinley, 1897
First president to ride to the inauguration in a car: Warren G. Harding, 1921
First president to ride to the inauguration in a bullet-proof car: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
First president to ride to the inauguration surrounded by a heavily armed security force: Abraham Lincoln, 1861
First president to give an Inaugural Address in less than 200 words: George Washington, 1793
First president to deliver an Inaugural Address Longer than 8,000 words: William H. Harrison, 1841 (Caught pneumonia while delivering it and died a month later.)
First president sworn-in following the death of his predecessor: John Tyler, 1841.
First new president sworn in by a former president: Calvin Coolidge, 1925 (By former president and then-U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Taft)
First president sworn in by a woman: Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 (By U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes aboard Air Force One following the assassination of John F. Kennedy)
First president to be inaugurated without first being elected: Gerald Ford, 1974
First president sworn-in on Jan. 20 instead of March 4: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937
First president to be sworn-in at home: Chester Arthur, 1881 (Following assassination of President James Garfield.)
First president sworn-in outside: James Monroe, 1817 (Because House and Senate could not agree on what chairs to use for traditional inside ceremony.)
First president to be snubbed by his predecessor at his swearing-in: Andrew Jackson, 1829. (He was feuding with outgoing President John Quincy Adams.
First president to recite his entire Inaugural Address by memory: Franklin Pierce, 1853 (3,329 words)
First president to wear a business suit rather than formal wear to his swearing-in: James E. Carter, 1977
First president to be photographed during inaugural ceremony: James Buchanan,1857
First president to deliver his inaugural address by radio: Calvin Coolidge, 1925
First president to be sworn-in live on television: Harry S. Truman, 1949
First president to have his swearing-in broadcast live on the internet: William J. Clinton, 1997

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