President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration is one of the most highly anticipated political events in years. With all of the excitement surrounding the event, it’s easy to forget there have been many inaugurations before it. Over the years, the inauguration has become highly formalized, with the day’s scheduled events taking on almost ritualistic significance.

Morning worship service

Officially begun in 1933 with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s attendance of a church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church (Washington quietly visited a church before his first inauguration), nearly every president since has decided to participate in faith services on the morning of the inauguration. While most presidents went to Protestant or other Christian churches, John F. Kennedy, the nation’s first Roman Catholic president, attended services at Holy Trinity Church.

Procession to the Capitol

Every president has had a form of procession to the swearing-in ceremony, but the procedure we see today was established in 1849 with Zachary Taylor’s inauguration ceremony. After being escorted to the White House by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies – commonly referred to as the JCCIC – the president-elect, vice-president-elect and their spouses are joined by the outgoing president and vice president to journey to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. Most presidents have ridden to their inaugurations in a carriage or automobile. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson both walked to their ceremonies. In 1869, Andrew Johnson became the third outgoing president to not accompany his successor on the procession; Johnson was inside the White House until his term expired at noon, signing last-minute bills into law.

Vice president’s swearing-in ceremony

The Constitution specifically requires the vice president and other elected officials to step forward to take an oath to defend the Constitution, but unlike the presidential oath, it does not specify the form that oath must take. Also unlike the presidential oath, a variety of public officials can and have administered the oath to the incoming vice president. The oath, dictated by Congress, is the same one repeated by senators, representatives and other government officers, and has been in use since 1884. Since 1981, the swearing-in ceremonies have been held at the west front terrace of the Capitol.

President’s swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution includes the oath of the office of president. The president is typically sworn in by the chief justice of the Supreme Court in front of the Capitol, though this has frequently changed due to circumstance. The oath reads:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the

United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

And, of course, the president’s swearing-in ceremony is accompanied by the inaugural address, which is often the most anticipated portion of the inauguration. Though George Washington’s first address was lackluster, other addresses have set the tone for the presidency. William Henry Harrison gave his inaugural address – the longest on record – in bitterly cold and inclement weather, which was widely speculated to have caused his death a month later.

Departure of the outgoing president

The 1889 “Handbook of Official and Social Etiquette and Public Ceremonies at Washington” described the ceremony this way:

“His departure from the Capital is attended with no ceremony, other than the presence of the members of his late Cabinet and a few officials and personal friends. The President leaves the Capital as soon as practicable after the inauguration of his successor.”

But from the start – the 1798 inauguration of John Adams, attended by Washington – the public has always paid a great deal of attention to the outgoing president. In recent years, newly installed presidents have accompanied their predecessors to a helicopter waiting to see the former president and his spouse off.

Inaugural luncheon

This tradition started in 1897, when the Senate Committee on Arrangements gave a luncheon for President William McKinley. Other presidents played host in a similar manner – in 1945, Roosevelt hosted more than 2,000 guests at the White House. The tradition did not begin in its current official form until 1953, when President Dwight Eisenhower and 50 other guests of the JCCIC ate creamed chicken, baked ham and potato puffs in the Old Senate Chamber. The JCCIC luncheon usually includes speeches, gifts from the JCCIC and toasts to the new administration.

Inaugural parade

Going back to the first, the parade is an Inauguration Day standby. When the JCCIC has concluded its luncheon, the president and vice president will journey down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House amid streamers, confetti and general celebration. While the first parades were informal affairs, James Madison was accompanied by cavalry during his 1809 inauguration, setting the tone for the future. Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration in 1865 – 148 years before this year’s swearing-in of Barack Obama – was the first time blacks were allowed to march in the parade.

Inaugural ball

Though the practice began informally, with multiple balls following Washington’s first inauguration, the growing number of balls necessitated the construction of dedicated ballrooms in Judiciary Square. Eventually, the idea of a single ball that could accommodate thousands of guests was embraced by partygoers who wished to view the newly sworn-in president. The event was canceled for the first time in 1853, when Franklin Pierce wished to mourn the loss of his son. Sixty years later, Woodrow Wilson firmly canceled the inaugural ball, and the practice of private parties sprang up when Warren G. Harding asked for a simple affair without pageantry to mark the occasion of his inauguration. In 1949, Harry Truman revived the practice of the ball, and Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953 necessitated a second ball due to great demand for tickets. The number of balls reached a high of 14 during the second inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1997.

– McClatchy-Tribune

Source: Yale Law School’s Avalon Project; inaugural.senate.gov

Inauguration schedule

This is a tentative schedule for the inauguration of Presidentelect Barack Obama and related events.

Jan. 17

President-elect Barack Obama and his family will begin their trek to D.C. via Amtrak train. Beginning with an event in Philadelphia, they will also make a stop in Wilmington, Del. (to pick up Vice President-elect Joe Biden and family) before another event in Baltimore, Md.

Jan. 18

There will be a welcome event Sunday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial. It is open to the public.

Jan. 19

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Obama and Biden families will dedicate their time to serving others across D.C. in a National Day of Community Service event. A youth concert will be held that evening at the Verizon Center in downtown D.C.

Jan. 20

Inauguration Day

• 7 a.m. – Visitors can begin entering parade route

• 9 a.m. – Gates to the inaugural ceremony open

• 10 a.m. -Inauguration begins with a musical prelude

The rest of the inauguration program is as follows:

• Musical selections: The United States Marine Band; the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus

• Call to order and welcoming remarks: Dianne Feinstein

• Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif.

• Musical selection: Aretha Franklin

• Oath of office administered to Vice President-elect Joe Biden by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens

• Musical selection: John Williams, composer/arranger; Itzhak Perlman, violin; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Gabriela Montero, piano; Anthony McGill, clarinet

• Noon – Oath of office administered to Presidentelect Obama by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

• Obama’s inaugural address

• Poem: Elizabeth Alexander

• Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery

• The National Anthem: The U.S. Navy band Sea Chanters

After the ceremony, the president attends a luncheon organized by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies in the Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

Following the luncheon, the inaugural parade will go along Pennsylvania Avenue from the steps of the Capitol building to the White House.

In the evening the president attends official balls, which are planned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Jan. 21

The newly sworn-in president and vice president will participate

in a prayer service.

Sources: inaugural.senate.gov, pic2009.org

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Inaugural parade route

The presidential inaugural parade will follow the same route as the first parade at James Madison’s inauguration in 1809.