Inauguration Day Archives - The I Spy Radio Show

History and Traditions of Inauguration Day

By Dr Mark | January 20, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

Show Summary: Celebrating Inauguration Day Weekend! We explore the history and traditions of Inauguration Day in depth. Changes to the oath of office, parades, balls, Bibles, and how they became traditions.

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Air Dates: Jan. 21 & 22, 2017 | Greg Leo

Answering the call of many Americans who were tired of Washington working for itself and not for them, President Trump gave an inaugural speech that declared today was the start of putting the people back in control of their government. And his speech gave Americans the chance to witness once again the peaceful passing of power, without war, following our Constitution, which supersedes all those who have taken office.

Full Transcript of President Trump’s Inaugural Speech

John Wilkes Booth, in the talk silk top hat, at Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address. — John Wilkes Booth, in the talk silk top hat, at Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address

So we take a look at the history and traditions of America’s Presidents taking power. The Inaugural Balls, the parade, even the Inaugural Speech itself. Some of these traditions date back to Washington but many of them are recent innovations.

Listen to hear about the President who stayed outside in the cold giving the longest inaugural address and then passed away 30 days later due to pneumonia. Or hear about the president-elect and president who couldn’t even talk to each other as they rode to the Capitol for the inauguration, the different Bibles some presidents chose, and lots more.

America’s rich history comes to light this weekend as we watch President Trump take office.

Another view of John Wilkes Booth at Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural — Another view of John Wilkes Booth at Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural (click for larger view)

And just think. If it were up to the likes of Karl Rove, we’d be watching Hillary give her speech while Karl explained why the John Kasich/Marco Rublio ticket hadn’t reached out enough to Hispanics.

Thank the Lord!

Join us for a celebration of the traditions of Inauguration Day!

Links Mentioned

Historical Photos of Inauguration Day

Incredible Negatives Discovered of Taft’s Inauguration (Daily Mail, Jan. 13, 2017)
Rare photo shows Lincoln delivering his first inaugural address (Time, Oct. 2016)
Fascinating gigapixel photo from President Trump’s Inauguration. Note: some browsers won’t display this correctly but definitely worth a try!

Additional Traditions of Inauguration Day Links

‘Never Trump’ national-security Republicans fear they have been blacklisted (Washington Post, Jan. 16, 2017)
Full Transcript of President Trump’s Inaugural Speech
Inaugural Ceremonies (via official Inaugural Committee)
The Presidential Inauguration: Some Interesting, Bizarre and Unusual Stories From the Past (Huffington Post, Feb. 17, 2013)
A history of presidential inaugurations (Washington Post, Jan. 21, 2013)
The Presidential Inauguration in History
Historical Inauguration Presidential Videos
Traditions behind the presidential inauguration (University of N. Georgia)
Bibles and the Swearing In Ceremony (CS Monitor)
Facts and artifacts of Inauguration Day via Library of Congress
Trump to be sworn in using Bible from childhood (The Hill, Jan. 17, 2017)
Inauguration Will Mix Tradition with Typical Trump Unorthodoxy (Lifezette, Jan. 17, 2017)
Historic Inaugural Addresses Trump Can Draw From (Lifezette, Jan. 17, 2017)