President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush lead the inaugural parade from the Capitol, down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House during the Inauguration Day, January 20, 2005.
Inauguration Day is the day that a new or re-elected President and Vice President are administered the oath of office to bear the mantle of this very important office, not only for the United States of America but which has a strong bearing in every corner of the world.
January 20th is designated as inauguration Day and comes but once in four years after the preceding year has had a Presidential Election and a President-elect and a Vice President-elect have been chosen to take the country forward into the next four years.
The inauguration of the President and the Vice President and all other elected members does not constitute a federal holiday in the United States and life would go on as normal and usual with schools kept open, offices going about their daily chores, transport running to normal schedules etc.
It is only the capital area of the United States of America which is Washington, District of Colombia which would have most of the official festivities associated with the inauguration hence some Federal offices would remain closed along with some other institutions, more so because employees would have a problem of commuting to and from these areas due to the tight security situation, road closures etc.
When the first President of the United States of America, George Washington was elected after the American Civil War his inauguration took place on April 30th 1789 and subsequently when he was re-elected his second inauguration took place on March 4th 1793.
Thereafter every President elected were Inaugurated on March 4th until President Franklin Roosevelt took oaths for his second term in office, which inauguration took place on January 20th 1937.
It was also decided with President Franklin Roosevelt’s second inauguration that the term of office of the President would begin at exactly 12 noon on that day.
The Vice President would take his oath of office just minutes prior to the President taking his oath of office and since that day we have an inauguration Day on January 20th every four years.
The United States constitution does not name and specify that a particular official or person should administer the oath of office to the President, but it has been the practice over the years for the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court to administer the oath of office of the new or re-elected President.
There have been exceptions to this practice from the first Presidential inauguration on April 30th 1789 with one Associate Justice and one New York state judge administrating the oath.
There have also been nine instances where the incumbent Vice President has been administered the oath of office of the President of the United States which has been due to the death or resignation of the President and in such instances it is a low key affair absent of the pomp and pageantry.
The place where the Presidential inauguration takes place has also been changed many times but since President Ronald Reagan took oaths in 1981, it has been held at the West Front of the United States Capitol.
Inauguration day is a very significant date in the American political landscape and there have been some very uneasy moments in the recent past, especially the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump who took his oath of office on January 20th 2017.
President Trump was a complete outside entity in the political arena, and did not have a ghost of a chance against Hillary Clinton, wife of the former President Bill Clinton, who was also a Secretary of State in the Obama Administration and a lady with ample experience in public office as far as bona fides to hold such a high office was concerned.
The campaign was tight and Donald Trump being a very shrewd businessman knew where his voter base was and effectively targeted them and though a billionaire with ample cash to dole out, spent much less on his election than Hilary Clinton to grab the office of the President of the United States of America.