The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants plenary power to the president of the United States to nominate, and, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, appoint "Judges of the supreme Court", who serve until they die, resign, retire, or are impeached and convicted. The existence of a chief justice is only explicit in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 which states that the chief justice shall preside over the impeachment trial of the president; this has occurred three times, for Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and for Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
The oath of office of the president of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the president of the United States takes upon assuming office. The wording of the oath is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8, of the United States Constitution, and a new president must take it before exercising or carrying out any official powers or duties.
John Adams' First State of the Union Address was delivered on Wednesday, November 22, 1797, in the Congress Hall of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time of the address, sickness was spreading through Philadelphia and Adams notes in his introduction that he was tempted to relocate the assembly of the national legislature but avoided this due to inevitable expense and general inconvenience.
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 presidency of John Adams, began on March 4, 1797, when John Adams was inaugurated as the second president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1801. Adams, who had served as vice president under George Washington, took office as president after winning the 1796 presidential election. The only member of the Federalist Party to ever serve as president, his presidency ended after a single term following his defeat in the 1800 presidential election. He was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson of the opposition Democratic-Republican Party.
The inauguration of Gerald Ford as the 38th president of the United States was held on Friday, August 9, 1974, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., after President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal. The inauguration – the last non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to take place in the 20th century – marked the commencement of Gerald Ford's only term as president. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the oath of office. The Bible upon which Ford recited the oath was held by his wife, Betty Ford, open to Proverbs 3:5–6. Ford was the ninth vice president to succeed to the presidency intra-term, and he remains the most recent to do so, as of 2024.
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. 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 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 Richard Nixon as the 37th president of the United States was held on Monday, January 20, 1969, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 46th inauguration and marked the commencement of the first and eventually only full term of both Richard Nixon as president and Spiro Agnew as vice president. Chief Justice Earl Warren administered the presidential oath of office to Nixon, and Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen administered the vice presidential oath to Agnew. Nixon had narrowly defeated Hubert Humphrey, the incumbent vice president, in the presidential election. Nixon became the first non-incumbent vice president to be inaugurated as president, something that would not happen again until Joe Biden in 2021. This was also the last presidential oath administered by Chief Justice Warren.
The second inauguration of Harry S. Truman as president of the United States was held on Thursday, January 20, 1949, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 41st inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and only full term of Harry S. Truman as president as well as the only term of Alben W. Barkley as vice president. Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson administered the presidential oath of office while Justice Stanley Forman Reed administered the vice-presidential oath of office.
The first inauguration of Thomas Jefferson as the third president of the United States was held on Wednesday, March 4, 1801. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of Thomas Jefferson as president and the only four-year term of Aaron Burr as vice president. Jefferson was sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.
The second inauguration of George Washington as president of the United States was held in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday, March 4, 1793. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second four-year term of Washington as president and of John Adams as vice president. The presidential oath of office was administered to George Washington by Associate Justice William Cushing. This was the first inauguration to take place in Philadelphia, and took place exactly four years after the new federal government began operations under the U.S. Constitution.
The first inauguration of James Madison as the fourth president of the United States was held on Saturday, March 4, 1809, in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of James Madison as president and the second term of George Clinton as vice president. The presidential oath was administered by Chief Justice John Marshall. The President wore a 100% American-made wool suit, and the first official inaugural ball occurred at Long's Hotel, with ticket prices being $4. Clinton died 3 years, 47 days into this term, and the office remained vacant for the balance of it. Clinton was the first vice president to die in office.
The second inauguration of James Madison as president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1813, at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second four-year term of James Madison as president and the only term of Elbridge Gerry as vice president. The presidential oath was administered by Chief Justice John Marshall. Gerry died 1 year, 264 days into this term, and the office remained vacant for the balance of it.
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 a 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 second inauguration of Andrew Jackson as president of the United States took place in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, March 4, 1833. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second four-year term of Andrew Jackson as president and the only four-year term of Martin Van Buren as vice president.
The inauguration of Benjamin Harrison as the 23rd president of the United States took place on Monday, March 4, 1889, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 26th inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of Benjamin Harrison as president and Levi P. Morton as vice president. Chief Justice Melville Fuller administered the presidential oath of office as rain poured down.
The inauguration of James Buchanan as the 15th president of the United States was held on Wednesday, March 4, 1857, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 18th inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both James Buchanan as president and John C. Breckinridge as vice president. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney administered the presidential oath of office. This was the first inauguration ceremony known to be photographed.
The inauguration of the president of the Republic of the Philippines is a ceremony marking the commencement of the six-year term of a president of the Philippines, who is both head of state and head of government. The inauguration is performed on June 30, as mandated by the 1987 Constitution. Under the older 1935 Constitution, the date was December 30, which is also Rizal Day; the last inauguration held on the older date was Ferdinand Marcos' second one on December 30, 1969. The most recent public presidential inauguration ceremony was that of President Bongbong Marcos, who began his six-year term in office on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
