A joint session of the United States Congress is a gathering of members of the two chambers of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Joint sessions can be held on any special occasion, but are required to be held when the president delivers a State of the Union address, when they gather to count and certify the votes of the Electoral College as the presidential election, or when they convene on the occasion of a presidential inauguration. A joint meeting is a ceremonial or formal occasion and does not perform any legislative function, and no resolution is proposed nor vote taken.
Between 73 and 79 days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term.
The first inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States was held on Thursday, April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York. The inauguration was held nearly two months after the beginning of the first four-year term of George Washington as president. Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office. With this inauguration, the executive branch of the United States government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The inauguration of John Adams as vice president was on April 21, 1789, when he assumed his duties as presiding officer of the United States Senate; this also remains the only scheduled inauguration to take place on a day that was neither January nor March.
The first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States was held on Monday, March 4, 1861, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 19th inauguration and marked the commencement of the first, and eventually only full term of Abraham Lincoln as president and the only term of Hannibal Hamlin as vice president. The presidential oath of office was administered to Lincoln by Roger B. Taney, the Chief Justice of the United States. John C. Breckinridge became the first outgoing vice president to administer the vice-presidential oath of office to his successor.
The inauguration of William Henry Harrison as the ninth president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1841, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 14th inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both William Henry Harrison as president and John Tyler as vice president. The presidential oath of office was administered to Harrison by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Harrison died 31 days into his term, the first U.S. president to die in office and has the shortest presidential term in American history. Tyler then succeeded to the presidency, creating a precedent which would be followed seven more times before it was officially regulated through the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967.
The first inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States was held on Wednesday, January 20, 1993, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 52nd inauguration and marked the commencement of the first term of Bill Clinton as president and Al Gore as vice president. At 46 years, 154 days of age at the time of his first inauguration, Clinton was the third-youngest person to become president, and the first from the Baby Boomer generation.
The second inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States was held on Monday, January 20, 1997, at the West Front of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. This was the 53rd inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final term of Bill Clinton as president and Al Gore as vice president. This was the last presidential inauguration to take place in the 20th century, the last in the 2nd millennium, and the first to be streamed live on the internet.
The inauguration of George H. W. Bush as the 41st president of the United States was held on Friday, January 20, 1989, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 51st inauguration and marked the commencement of the only term of both George H. W. Bush as president and Dan Quayle as vice president. Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the presidential oath of office to Bush and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the vice presidential oath of office to Quayle. Bush was the first sitting vice president to be inaugurated as president since Martin Van Buren in 1837 and the last World War II combat veteran. Bush composed his own prayer for the ceremony which he recited at the start of his inaugural address; the last president to do so was Dwight D. Eisenhower at his first inauguration in 1953.
The second inauguration of Ronald Reagan as president of the United States was held in a televised ceremony on January 20, 1985, at the White House, and was repeated the following day, January 21, 1985, at the Capitol's rotunda. This was the 50th presidential inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final four-year term of both Ronald Reagan as president and of George H. W. Bush as vice president. At 73 years, 349 days of age on Inauguration Day, Reagan was the oldest U.S. president to be inaugurated, until Joe Biden's inauguration as president on January 20, 2021, at the age of 78 years, 61 days.
The first inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the 32nd president of the United States was held on Saturday, March 4, 1933, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 37th inauguration, and marked the commencement of the first term of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president and John Nance Garner as vice president.
The inauguration of William Howard Taft as the 27th president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1909, at the Senate chamber inside the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., instead of the regular East Portico due to blizzard. This was the 31st inauguration and marked the commencement of William Howard Taft's only term as president and James S. Sherman's only term as vice president.
The inauguration of John Quincy Adams as the sixth president of the United States took place on Friday, March 4, 1825, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The inauguration marked the commencement of the only four-year term of John Quincy Adams as president and the first term of John C. Calhoun as vice president. Adams was the first president to have been the son of a former president–John Adams; and Calhoun, at age 42 on Inauguration Day, was the second-youngest vice president.
The inauguration of Zachary Taylor as the 12th president of the United States was held on Monday, March 5, 1849, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and was the second instance of an inauguration being rescheduled due to March 4 falling on a Sunday, the Christian sabbath. This was the 16th regular inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both Zachary Taylor as president and Millard Fillmore as vice president. Taylor died 1 year, 126 days into this term, and Fillmore succeeded to the presidency. The presidential oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Inauguration Day started off being cloudy with snow flurries, but turned to heavy snow during the inaugural balls.
The inauguration of John F. Kennedy as the 35th president of the United States was held on Friday, January 20, 1961, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the 44th inauguration, marking the commencement of John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's only term as president and vice president. Kennedy was assassinated 2 years, 306 days into this term, and Johnson succeeded to the presidency.
The second inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant as president of the United States was held on Tuesday, March 4, 1873, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 22nd inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final four-year term of Ulysses S. Grant as president and the only term of Henry Wilson as vice president. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administered the presidential oath of office. This was one of the coldest inaugurations in U.S. history with 16 °F (−9 °C) at noon, and the inaugural ball ended early when the food froze. Vice President Wilson died 2 years, 263 days into this term, and the office remained vacant since there was no constitutional provision to fill an intra-term vice-presidential vacancy until the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967.
The second inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as president of the United States was held privately on Sunday, March 4, 1917, at the President's Room inside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and publicly on Monday, March 5, 1917, at the East Portico of the Capitol. This was the 33rd inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final four-year term of both Woodrow Wilson as president and Thomas R. Marshall as vice president. Chief Justice Edward D. White administered the presidential oath of office to Wilson.
The inauguration of Warren G. Harding as the 29th president of the United States was held on Friday, March 4, 1921, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 34th inauguration and marked the commencement of Warren G. Harding's only term as president and of Calvin Coolidge's only term as vice president. Harding died 2 years, 151 days into this term, and Coolidge succeeded to the presidency.
The second inauguration of Calvin Coolidge as president of the United States, was held on Wednesday, March 4, 1925, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 35th presidential inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and only full term of Calvin Coolidge as president and the only term of Charles G. Dawes as vice president. Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had served as president from 1909 to 1913, administered the oath of office. This was the first inauguration on which a former U.S. president administered the Oath and the first to be broadcast nationally on radio.
United States presidential inaugural balls are large social gatherings, both white tie and black tie, held to celebrate the commencement of a new term of the president of the United States. Planned and sanctioned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the official inaugural balls occur throughout the evening of Inauguration Day in the Washington D.C. area and are invitation-only, attended by guests who are issued pre-paid tickets. The president, first lady, vice president, and second lady or gentleman all make personal appearances at each of the inaugural balls held in their honor. Catered food, beverages, and live entertainment performed by national and globally acclaimed musicians are provided at the inaugural balls.
The presidency of Woodrow Wilson began on March 4, 1913, when Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as the 28th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1921.
