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Millions of people across the country are expected to tune in for the president-elect Trump’s second inauguration ceremony. TV channels, online publications and social networks are preparing for the big event. The way inaugurations were presented to the public has changed dramatically over the years.
“We must think big and dream bigger,” Trump said during his first inaugural address in 2017.
Tens of millions of people watched his first speech in real time – both on television and via Internet streaming. But inaugural speeches and analysis speeches were not always immediately available. In 1789, when George Washington was first sworn in, his speech was not available to the public until several days later.
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Thomas Jefferson became the first president to have his inaugural address printed in a newspaper on the same day he delivered his address in 1801. The National Intelligencer printed the speech on the morning of Jefferson’s inauguration.
James Polk was the first president whose address was telegraphed. It was also the first time the speech was featured in an Illustrated London News newspaper illustration.
James Polk takes the presidential oath in this illustration of his inauguration. Polk’s inauguration was the first to be printed as an illustration in newspapers. (Library of Congress)
There were drawings the main visual material for the inauguration another 12 years until photography became more widely used. James Buchanan was the first president to be photographed during the inauguration. Another 40 years later, the video was used to record the inauguration for the public.
William McKinley was the first president to appear on camera during his inaugural address in 1901. Back then, only silent films were available, but that would change over the years as inaugural speeches began to include audio.
James Buchanan was the first president to be photographed taking the oath of office. (Library of Congress)
In 1921, Warren Harding was the first to use a loudspeaker to personally address the crowd attending his inauguration. Four years later, Calvin Coolidge was the first to have his inauguration broadcast on national radio. The White House Historical Association estimates that his 1925 address reached more than 23 million radio listeners. Herbert Hoover gave the first multimedia inauguration. His address in 1929 was the first to be recorded in a talking newsreel.
“It is a dedication and ordination under God to a higher position in the service of our nation,” Hoover said during his speech.
After the Second World Warmore and more Americans were buying televisions for their homes. Until 1949 almost all major cities had at least one local television station, and 4.2 million American homes had televisions. Harry Truman became the first president to have his inauguration broadcast live that year. More than ten years later, John F. Kennedy broadcast his speech in color to about 500,000 Americans who had color televisions.
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” Kennedy said during his inaugural address.
Ronald Reagan sought to bring the splendor of the inaugural events to Americans across the country. His inaugural committee organized about 100 satellite inaugural balls that were broadcast in 32 cities.
In the past, Americans had to wait several days to read the president’s inaugural address in a newspaper. Today, the event can be broadcast in real time around the world. (Associated Press)
“Almost 200 years ago, people came by stagecoach to the first inauguration. This time, people across America, millions of people, are watching it via satellite,” Reagan said during a ball at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
More than ten years later, Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 was made available online via live broadcast. Clinton had signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law just a year earlier at the US Library of Congress.
“Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of physicists; today it is a common encyclopedia for millions of school children,” Clinton said during his inaugural address. “As we look back on this remarkable century, we may ask, ‘Can we hope not merely to follow, but even to surpass, the achievements of the 20th century in America?’
With the development of the Internet, the use of social networks has expanded.
“We’ve always understood that as times change, so must we,” said Barack Obama during his second inaugural address in 2013.
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Obama was the first president to join Twitter. His 2013 address generated more than 1 million tweets. According to Pew Research, about 51% of Americans owned smartphones at the time. When Trump was sworn in in 2017, that percentage rose to 77%. Cell phone operators set up non-cellular antennas in front of the address for the massive crowd to share photos and videos of the day’s events on social media.
If Joe Biden gave his address in 2021, its inaugural committee relied on technology for virtually every aspect of the event. The coronavirus pandemic has forced most of Biden’s celebrations to be moved online.
“Today the world is watching all of us. So here’s my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it,” Biden said during his address.
