There’s been a lot in the news about today (March 4) — at least one radical group claiming that former President Trump will be inaugurated as the new President…. (Spoiler Alert — that won’t happen.)
Anyhow, until the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution in 1933, the official day for presidential inaugurations was March 4. When the fourth fell on a Sunday, the ceremonies were held on March 5. (That occurred in 1821, 1849, 1877, and 1917.)
The first first president (George Washington) was not inaugurated until April 30. Congress scheduled the first inauguration for March 4, 1789, but they were unable to count the electoral ballots as soon as anticipated, so the first inauguration was postponed to allow the president-elect time to make the trip from his home in Virginia to the nation’s capital in New York City.
The passage of the 20th Amendment, Nicknamed the Lame Duck Amendment, moved the inauguration date from March 4th to January 20th. The amendment also changed the opening date for a new Congress to January 3rd to eliminate extended lame duck congressional sessions.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn into office on January 20, 1937 along with Vice President John Name Garner and became the first president to be sworn in on the new date set by the 20th amendment. This was the beginning of Roosevelt’s second term as president.
So we don’t give March 4 much thought except in times like these when groups like QAnon promote conspiracies…..
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