Inauguration Day

On Jan. 20, Barack Obama takes his place as our 44th president.
Inauguration Day, as the day a new president takes the oath of office is called, is a frenzy of activity, filled with balls, parades and ceremonies. The theme of the 2009 inauguration is “A New Birth of Freedom,” a phrase that President Abraham Lincoln used in the Gettysburg Address.
The day starts with a morning worship service, a tradition started by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, followed by a procession ending at the U.S. Capitol, where the swearing-in ceremony takes place. The new vice president is sworn in first. Then the new president must say, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The president then delivers an inaugural address (a speech outlining his vision for America), a tradition that started with the nation’s first president, George Washington, who was sworn in on April 30, 1789, in New York City.
Finally, the new president and vice president escort the outgoing president and vice president and their spouses out of the Capitol building and watch them depart the grounds (by helicopter)!
The inaugural balls are formal events that many people look forward to in Washington, D.C. The tradition began in 1809 for President James Madison. When James Buchanan was inaugurated in 1857, a temporary ballroom was built for the occasion. Food purchased for the event included: $3,000 worth of wine, 400 gallons of oysters, 500 quarts of chicken salad, 1,200 quarts of ice cream, 60 saddles of mutton, eight rounds of beef, 75 hams and 125 tongues!

• Shortest Inauguration Address: 1793,
• George Washington—135 words
• Longest Inauguration Address: 1841, William Harrison—8,445 words
• Cost of a ticket to the first Inaugural ball in 1809: $4
• Number of official balls for President Obama’s Inauguration: 10