Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States

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Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States are given each time that a United States President is inaugurated. A total of 55 have been given by a total of 37 presidents. George Washington's second address was the shortest one (135 words) and William Henry Harrison delivered the longest one (8,495 words). Five presidents served without ever giving an Inaugural address: Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, and Ford. In each of these cases, the incoming President was succeeding a President who had either resigned, been assassinated or had died of natural causes, and was subsequently not elected to a full term.

1 Locations
2 Dates
3 Religion
4 See also
5 External link
6 Reference

[edit] Locations

Washington gave his first address at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City and his second address in Congress Hall in Philadelphia. Adams also gave his in Congress Hall in Philadelphia. Jefferson gave both of his addresses at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. and all addresses since then have been given there as well, except for Franklin D. Roosevelt's fourth address, which he gave at the White House.

[edit] Dates

A total of five calendar dates have seen a U.S. Presidential Inaugural Address: April 30th, March 4th, March 5th, January 20th and January 21st. Washington gave his first one on April 30, 1789 and he gave his second one on March 4, 1793, establishing a long-held tradition that did not change until passage of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Between the years 1793 and 1933 the addresses were given on March 4th with only four exceptions. Because March 4th fell on a Sunday in each of their respective inaugural years, Monroe, Taylor, Hayes and Wilson each gave an address on Monday, March 5th. From 1937 until the present, addresses have been given on January 20th with only three exceptions. Eisenhower and Reagan each gave an address on January 21st because the day before was a Sunday.

[edit] Religion

George Washington's second address is the only one to contain no mention of the Christian God. Thirty-four of the 55 addresses contain the word "God." The addresses that refer to, but do not contain the word "God" instead say Giver of Good, Heaven, Almighty, Divine, or Providence. The last president not to say "God" was Franklin D. Roosevelt (second address).