credit Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP
"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." Presidential inaugurations signal a shift in U.S. political power, often bookmarking eras with dramatic moments. And while they sometimes take place in dark times, they’re still an opportunity for the nation to put the past behind, steel its resolve, and look to the future. This gallery of inaugurations, with excerpts from the presidents’ speeches, spotlights the rings in the tree trunk of the republic. Left: The early morning sky brightens on the west front of the Capitol on Jan. 11 during a rehearsal for Obama’s inauguration ceremony.
credit Photo: Library of Congress
Harry S. Truman =
description "The supreme need of our time is for men to learn to live together in peace and harmony." Originally sworn into the presidency in the Cabinet Room of the White House after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman’s 1949 oath-taking was his first public, formal inauguration. The ceremony was conducted on the east portico of the Capitol building, where Truman gave the http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystrumaninauguraladdress.html first televised inaugural address. Truman’s election was an upset victory against his Republican rival, New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey. Truman was sworn in on two bibles, one from his first swearing-in and one that was a gift from his hometown of Independence, Missouri. 
credit Photo: Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO
Dwight D. Eisenhower =
description "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife Mamie leave church in Washington, D.C., on the morning of his inauguration as president on an unexpectedly sunny Jan. 20, 1953. The https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwenOlpbvTA inaugural address was delivered on the east portico of the Capitol shortly after Vice President Richard M. Nixon was sworn in. President Eisenhower then joined the inaugural parade that swept through a crowd estimated at 750,000. Ike was in high spirits, even letting a cowboy from California named Marty Montana ensnare him with a lasso. 
credit Photo: Abbie Rowe/National Park Service/Courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
John F. Kennedy =
description "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy arrive at the National Guard Armory in Washington for the inaugural ball, Jan. 20, 1961. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0iPY7XGBo Kennedy’s inauguration ceremony was almost canceled on account of heavy snow. The glare from the worrisome snow prevented Robert Frost from reading "Dedication," a poem he had written for the occasion. Instead, Frost recited a different poem from memory and gave "Dedication" to the Kennedys. Jacqueline Kennedy later framed the poem and gave it to her husband with the inscription: "For Jack. First thing I had framed to be put in your office. First thing to be hung there." 
credit Photo: Cecil W. Stoughton
Lyndon B. Johnson =
description "Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose." (Address to nation six days later: Nov. 28, 1963) Lyndon B. Johnson is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUh6Sgzeld8 sworn into the presidency aboard Air Force One, two hours and eight minutes after John F. Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963. Widow Jacqueline Kennedy stands by Johnson’s side in one of the most dramatic photographs in presidential history. The extreme circumstances of the day make LBJ’s swearing-in an outlier in inauguration ceremonies: Johnson is the only president to be sworn in on Texas soil, the only one sworn in aboard an airplane, the only one sworn in by a woman (federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes) and the only one sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal — a text for conducting mass. The missal was found in Kennedy’s desk aboard the plane when no bible could be located. 
credit Photo: White House Photo Office Collection
Richard M. Nixon =
description "We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another — until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices." President and Mrs. Nixon wave to the crowd from the presidential limousine in the inaugural motorcade Jan. 20, 1969. Nixon’s inaugural address was restrained, calling for calm and a reconciling of differences. An estimated 1,000 anti-war protesters did not heed his call, throwing rocks and beer cans at Nixon’s limousine on its way to the inaugural parade. 
credit Photo: Robert L. Knudsen, White House press office
Gerald R. Ford =
description "I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself." After Nixon’s resignation in response to the Watergate scandal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phrIdrQScr0 Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger on Aug. 9, 1974. His 29-month presidency saw some of the worst economic times in America’s history, perhaps dwarfed by the current economy. Known as Leslie Lynch King Jr. until his mother remarried and changed his name when he was 2 years old, Gerald Ford was a beacon of integrity in a morass of political corruption. This made him a likable president even though many criticized him for a lack of personality. 
credit Photo: National Archives
Jimmy Carter =
description "Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home." President Jimmy Carter takes the oath of office Jan. 20, 1977. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pHMv7grxYE Carter’s sermon-like speech called for a renewed search for "humility, mercy and justice." Though a memorable speech, Carter made inaugural history by walking the entire distance from the Capitol Building to the White House with his wife and daughter, a 40-minute trek. The presidential walk became an inauguration tradition, though subsequent presidents only walk part of the way because of security concerns. Carter decided on the walk three weeks prior, changing public perception that the president was removed from the people. 
Ronald W. Reagan =
description "It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed." Ronald and Nancy Reagan kiss inside the Capitol before the inaugural ceremony, Jan. 20, 1981. Reagan was the beneficiary of perhaps one of the most serendipitous inaugural events in history. Just minutes before Reagan was sworn in, news wires reported that the 52 U.S. diplomats who had been held hostage in Iran were being released. They had spent 444 days in captivity and were on their way home. The hostages had been captured by a group of revolutionary students who took over the U.S. embassy in Iran. The inauguration was immediately injected with high spirits, and people felt the event was a sign of better times ahead. Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Library 
credit Photo: Records of the White House Photograph Office
George H.W. Bush =
description "We have more will than wallet, but will is what we need." President George H.W. Bush first lady Barbara Bush walk along Pennsylvania Avenue after the president’s inauguration Jan. 20,1989. Bush’s inaugural speech focused on bipartisanship, doing away with party bickering and improving relationships across the aisle. The significant budget deficit was also targeted as a primary obstacle to overcome. Bush went on to talk about helping prisoners in Iraq, and he outlined pressing domestic issues such as homelessness, drug addiction and crime. The speech was given on the west front of the U.S. Capitol (the change from the east portico that had begun with President Reagan). Bush received a standing ovation, and then the Reagan family departed for California on a military helicopter — the Republican torch successfully passed. 
credit Photo: Library of Congress
Bill Clinton =
description "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Bill Clinton’s rise to the presidency seems fated in retrospect, but when he first declared his candidacy he was a relative unknown and considered a long shot. He began his campaign at a time when incumbent President Bush had 80 percent approval ratings and had completed a relatively quick and painless war in the Persian Gulf. Many Democrats considered the presidency unwinnable. 18 months later, Clinton was shaking hands with Bush on the west front of the Capitol, taking over as the republic’s chief executive. At an inaugural event later that evening, Clinton gave credit to MTV for its role in his campaign and borrowed Ben E. King’s saxophone to play a solo for the crowd, living up to his position as third youngest president (behind John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt). 
credit Photo: Doug Mills/AP
George W. Bush =
description "America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens." President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush dance during an inaugural ball. The inauguration of George W. Bush finally put an end to one of the oddest and most-disputed presidential elections in history, one that was eventually decided by the Supreme Court on Dec. 12, 2000, in Bush v. Gore. It was a foreshadowing of what would be a tumultuous two terms in office. Bush’s inaugural address was uncharacteristically lofty, championing civility and bipartisanship. After the drizzly ceremony, Bush got to work reversing last-minute regulations enacted by the Clinton administration, before continuing on to the celebrations. See Also: http://archive.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/magazine/17-02/ff_obama The Wired Presidency: Can Obama Really Reboot the White House? http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/multimedia/2008/11/gallery_president_election Gallery: A Century of Presidents http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/the-digital-ina.html Interactive Inauguration of Obama Is Just the Beginning
