On this federal holiday, the president-elect and vice-president-elect are sworn in and take office. Show
When is Inauguration Day?Inauguration Day occurs every four years on January 20 (or January 21 if January 20 falls on a Sunday) at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. The next presidential inauguration is scheduled to be on January 20, 2025. What is the Presidential Oath of Office?The vice-president-elect is sworn in first, and repeats the same oath of office, in use since 1884, as senators, representatives, and other federal employees: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Around noon, the president-elect recites the following oath, in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution: "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." What events take place on Inauguration Day?The inauguration is planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC). Inaugural events include the swearing-in ceremony, the inaugural address, and the pass in review. Learn more about each event from the JCCIC. For more information on the history of presidential inaugurations, explore the inaugural materials from the collections of the Library of Congress. Jump to Data Table The term "news conference" refers simply to an interaction between the President and multiple members of the press in a relatively formal setting. The President and the press meet specifically for the President to respond to press questions. In the early years those interactions were only partly "on the record," as specified by the President, and were not broadcast live. Indeed in several early instances (e.g., Coolidge, Hoover), reporters submitted questions in writing, and the President selected which to answer. The modern idea of a press conference dates from the Eisenhower Administration. In those modern conferences, the President responds to un-vetted questions in a public forum, and the event is nationally broadcast. A different kind of interaction is referred to as an "exchange with reporters." An exchange with reporters typically happens incidentally alongside some other meeting or event. This is often while the President is moving from one location to another and pauses to take questions from reporters (e.g. walking to the helicopter). Alternatively, the President may decide at the end of remarks to respond to questions from reporters. Early in the Trump Administration, the White House did not prepare transcripts of many of President Trump's "exchanges." In the table below, "Solo-Reg" refers to a conference with the President alone with reporters. A subset of the Solo category is "Prime-Time." Those conferences have been televised, live, in prime-time (Eastern Time). In a Joint conference, the President appears together with one or more other speakers. A typical example of Joint conferences involves a foreign head of government with whom the President has been meeting. On our Advanced Searchpage you can find the transcripts of all news conferences in our collection, and select by president or specific time period. ("Document Category" = News Conferences). In several cases, the number of transcripts in our archive is slightly different from the number tabulated by others. In modern presidencies, the Public Papers title usually includes the words "News Conference," but not always. An interesting example is a Kennedy conference from 1961. Another interesting example is a surprise Obama appearance in the Press Briefing Room in 2012 that looks a lot like a News Conference. News Conference (or Press Conference) vs Press Briefing. Press briefings rarely involve the President--notable exceptions involved Trump's participation in Coronavirus Task Force Press briefings. Briefings have usually been frequent--sometimes daily--meetings of the White House Press Corps with the Press Secretary (and/or others). These provide an opportunity for the White House to convey information and for the press corps to ask questions on virtually any topic of interest. For a period, the Trump Administration discontinued regular press briefings with the Press Secretary. This link will take you to Press Briefings during the Biden Administration. Our collection includes over 6000 press briefings mostly starting with Clinton. We have examined press briefings in an Analysis. A main take-away: Presidents have many avenues for providing information to the Press, and different Presidents combine them in different ways. Those below are not all the ways, either. Consider interviews both on and off the record and deliberate "leaks" of information indirectly. ALSO SEE: Table showing length of time in days from presidents taking office until their first solo news conference. Main Data Table
• Coolidge data from Lyn Ragsdale, Vital Statistics on the Presidency (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), 170-71. Also see: Martha Joynt Kumar, Managing the President's Message: The White House Communications Operaition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) Gerhard Peters. "Presidential News Conferences." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/323900 What date does the next president take office?When is Inauguration Day? Inauguration Day occurs every four years on January 20 (or January 21 if January 20 falls on a Sunday) at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. The next presidential inauguration is scheduled to be on January 20, 2025.
What time does a president get sworn in?Since 1937, it has taken place at noon EST on January 20, the first day of the new term, except in 1957, 1985, and 2013, when January 20 fell on a Sunday. In those years, the presidential oath of office was administered on that day privately and then again in a public ceremony the next day, on Monday, January 21.
Does a president officially take over the day he is elected?The 20th amendment to the Constitution specifies that the term of each elected President of the United States begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. Each president must take the oath of office before assuming the duties of the position. With the 2021 inauguration of Joseph R.
Why did Inauguration Day Change?To minimize the transition period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, and curtail “Lame Duck” Congresses in which members defeated in November served until March, legislators introduced the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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