A Presidential Date

The attached sidelights in connection with the American Presedential Election and the Iauguration on 20th Jan 2009[today]

may interest you

B.M.N.Murthy, 20th Jan 2009

American President—Election and Inauguration.


As per the Inaugural Date fixed by the American Constitution, the elected President will have to be inaugurated on the 20th January. By chance, if that happens to be a Sunday [Sabbath] how does America overcome that? The following precedents have been set up in America.

Ronald Reagan: At 11.57 A.M. on Sunday 20th Jan 1985, the 40th President of America, Ronald Reagan, raised his right hand and made the ritual pledge to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”. The ceremony was private. The inaugural date fell on a Sunday that year and Reagan had the political sense not to upstage either the Sabbath or the Super Bowl.

James Munroe : James Munroe, the First President Elect with a Sabbath Inaugural Day, decided to wait till Monday, leaving the nation technically leaderless for a few hours.

Woodrow Wilson : Woodrow Wilson took the oath of office on a Sunday in 1917 in a private ceremony but stages a formal Inauguration for public consumption the next day.

Dwight Eisenhower: Eisenhower followed the precedent set by Woodrow Wilson


William Howard Taft: Horace Dutton Taft, late Head Master of the Taft School, America, was noted for his strictness in the school and a strict disciplinarian. He had a deep sense of humour.
There was one school rule which could never be broken. Unscheduled private holiday, no matter what the excuse, was not at all entertained. Yet, a special problem arose when the son of the Head Master’ brother, William Howard Taft, asked permission to attend his father’s inauguration as President of the United States of America. After deliberation, the request was granted, not, however, as an exception to the strict and indiscriminate rule, but by the authority of a new rule newly passes and to this day a part of the school’s legal code. The new rule says “Any boy whose father is elected to the Presidency of the United States be permitted to attend the Inauguration Ceremony”
The rule is still in force.

One Vote Difference : Thomas Jefferson was elected President of USA just by one vote in the Electoral College.
So was John Quincy Adams.
Rutherford B.Hayes was elected President by just one vote. His election was contested and referred to an Election Commission. Again, he won by a single vote.


B.M.N.Murthy



20th JANUARY 2009--Presidential Inaguration in America
Created: Monday, January 19, 2009 10:22 PM