inaugurations

Steve Kerrigan produced both President Obama’s 2009 and 2013 inaugurations and served as a senior adviser to President Biden’s inaugural committee. He shares why inaugurations are such a “uniquely American experience,” and how Aretha Franklin helped create his favorite inauguration moment.

The ceremonial transfer of power from one U.S. president to another is an event that transfixes the nation every four years. And as the decades have passed, advances in technology have allowed the media to tell that story in an evolving way — from illustrations to the use of photographs, radio, video and finally digital media. NBCLX storyteller Peter Hull...

President Biden’s inaugural address was the longest in 35 years — clocking in at 21 minutes and more than 2,400 words. That’s perhaps fitting at a time when the country is divided and facing crises on multiple fronts. NBCLX political reporter Noah Pransky breaks down the inauguration speech and how at moments it compared to those by John F. Kennedy,...

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Franklin D. Roosevelt declared at his inauguration. “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” said John F. Kennedy at his swearing-in ceremony. We looked back at some of the most inspiring quotes in inauguration history from Roosevelt, Kennedy, Dwight D....

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States is going to look vastly different than the ceremonies of his predecessors, and the most striking difference may be that outgoing President Donald Trump will not attend. George Washington University history professor Edward Berkowitz joined LX News to explain what usually goes down on Inauguration Day and...

As we prepare for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, here’s a quick nod to the past with a look at the very first inaugural of our Founding Father, George Washington.

The attack on the U.S. Capitol and threats of more violence have prompted law enforcement agencies to take extreme steps to ensure the security of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration events. David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post joined LX News to explain what to expect on Inauguration Day and how little precedent there is in U.S. history for this type of...

In 1789, George Washington was elected as the first president of the United States. As we prepare for President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in, here is a look at our country’s very first presidential inauguration.

Did you know Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration was so cold that the champagne froze? Or that Richard Nixon accidentally poisoned all the pigeons along his parade route? These are just a few of the weirdest moments in inauguration history. And because ice cream is a favorite treat of President-elect Joe Biden, we’re telling these stories through sundaes.

As much of the country prepares for the unexpected on Inauguration Day, here are a few of the umm… weirder and lesser known facts about that special day that may have escaped your attention.