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Inaugural Traditions Make History
“By golly Bob! How ’bout that?” exclaimed Walter Cronkite to fellow CBS journalist Bob Schieffer in their first moments covering President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 Inaugural Parade. “He got out of the car and is walking down the avenue . . . whether this is his intention to walk a mile and a half we have no idea!”
“Nobody had any word at all!” responded Schieffer as they watched Carter become the first president to exit the designated presidential vehicle in the official motorcade and walk to the White House during an Inaugural Parade. Charles Kuralt, reporting for CBS from an open convertible just in front of the president at the head of the parade, added, “I turned around and there he was! Surprised everyone!” Happy and waving despite the cold—it was 29 degrees with 15 mile an hour winds—the new president and his family were cheered by crowds who lined the streets, hung from trees, and gathered at office windows. “My gosh, this is almost unbelievable! . . . It’s a tradition-shattering walk!” Cronkite concluded about thirty minutes later as the Carters, still on foot, still smiling and waving, approached the White House.
Whether shattered or observed, traditions make history each Inauguration Day. Every decision a president makes on this transformational day—every hat and coat, every time and place, every oath and address, every Oval Office furnishing, every greeting or good-bye, and nearly every footstep taken—will be documented, analyzed, and incorporated into presidential history. With this issue of White House History Quarterly, as Inauguration Day 2025 approaches, we take a look at the decisions that make and break traditions.
Former White House Correspondent Ann Compton opens the issue as the day begins. She recounts her memories of cold morning vigils as a young reporter, stationed on the sidewalk at the entrance to Blair House, The President’s Guest House, waiting for the president-elect to emerge and begin the day that leads to life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The “swearing-in ceremonies that have launched presidents into four-year terms and . . . in which vice presidents have succeeded deceased or resigned presidents have transpired in a variety of settings, circumstances, and dates,” explains author Jonathan L. Stolz, who recounts
the evolution of the time and place of the Inauguration ceremony. The Inaugural Address is traditionally delivered by the newly inaugurated president just after taking the Oath of Office. Author Alison Isko goes into the archives of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to study the text of President Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural speech, delivered January 20, 1981.
For the awe-struck members of the Lebanon High School Band, from the smallest city in New Hampshire, performing in President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Parade created memories that would last a lifetime, recalls Mark Ramsdell. Later a longtime assistant to White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Ramsdell shares the excitement and wonder he experienced with his classmates on their first trip to Washington, D.C., and their first glimpse of a president.
Despite long-followed traditions, presidents do sometimes choose to break with them. Mary Jo Binker explains why President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the setting of his fourth Oath of Office. She takes us back to 1945 to witness FDR’s “backyard” Inauguration and the austere White House receptions that followed. Many—but not all—presidents have chosen to conclude the Oath of Office with “So help me God.” Richard Gardiner studies eyewitness accounts to trace the origins of the practice. And Rebecca Durgin Kerr explains that ever since George Washington chose to signal his patriotism by wearing a suit of American manufacture, presidents have made strategic choices about their inaugural wardrobe.
During the few hours that the nation’s attention is focused on the ceremony and parade, a major undertaking is in progress behind the scenes back at the White House. Former Chief Usher Gary J. Walters shares his memories of the rush to simultaneously move one first family out, and another in, a process he calls “organized chaos.” “Don’t Panic!” was number one on the list of “Five Rules of Inauguration” that Walters created for the Residence staff.
For our Presidential Sites feature, Jennifer I. Wojeck focuses on Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Whether the newly inaugurated presidents traveled it on foot, on horseback, by carriage, or in a motorcade, the avenue has witnessed more than two hundred years of inaugural tradition.
marcia mallet anderson editor, white house history quarterly
Exiting his limousine on Pennsylvania Avenue near First Street NW, newly inaugurated President Jimmy Carter amazed spectators by walking all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. His walk created a new Inauguration Day tradition. The first president born in a hospital and the first to live beyond his hundredth birthday, Jimmy Carter has made history before, during, and after his years in the White House.
