General Washington wore a suit of solid buff, coat, waistcoat and breeches. all buff: with a light sword at his side. Just two weeks after he had left his mother in the little Virginia town. at 0 o'clock on the morning of April 30. began the march to the place of inauguration at the City Hall. Cannon boomed and church bells rang as twelve military organizations wheeled into line behind the President- elect. seated in a coach drawn by four horses.
The oath of the Constitution was administered by Chancellor Livingston. and as its words were uttered and the concluding sentence. "So help me. God." fell from the lips of the "Cincinnatus of the West." the Chancellor raised his hand and cried. "God save George Washington. President of the United States."
The multitude took up the cry with joyous acclamations and showered their congratulations upon the first President of the United States. as he stood smiling among them attired in an elegant brown velvet suit. a fine new sword at his side and silver buckles shining at his knees and on his shoes.
Such were some of the features of the first inauguration. The second inauguration of Washington was by appointment of the Congress. to be permanently on that date. March 4. I7q3. at Independence Hall. in Philadelphia. On this occasion the President wore a black velvet suit. ornamented with diamond knee buckles. black silk stockings. elaborately powdered hair; light sword in a green scabbard. A central figure was the first Secretary of State. then called the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. auburn-haired Thomas Jefferson. in a blue coat and red breeches.
The inauguration of the second President. John Adams. was the last in Philadelphia. and took place in the Hall of the House of Representatives. There was much impressive ceremony. but far less ostentation than on former occasions.
Thomas Jefferson's inauguration. traditionally accounted the simplest of all. was the first in Washington. There are conflicting stories concerning whether Jefferson rode horseback to the scene and hitched his own horse. but there is no doubt that it was a very simple and gravely business-like affair. The retiring President was not there. sickness in the family being the excuse offered. Jefferson's second inauguration. even more simple than the first. was in the Senate chamber. and the oath. as in his first inauguration. was administered by Chief Justice John Marshall.
The fourth President and the third Virginian to head the young nation. James Madison. dressed in a suit of American-made woolen. was inaugurated with somewhat more display by the people than was his predecessor. There was marching. and artillery thundered for a time. Then in the evening was held the first inaugural ball. Madison's second inauguration was a repetition of the first.
When James Monroe. the fifth President. was inaugurated in 1817. there was a larger military display than at any since Washington‘s first in New York. and at night there was a public reception and a ball at the Davis Hotel. now the Metropolitan. on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Another simple and severely formal inauguration was that of John Quincy Adams. which took place at the Capitol in the Hall of the House of Representatives. now Statuary Hall. in which lvlr. Adams was fatally stricken with illness while he was a member of the House.
The inauguration of Andrew Jackson. another military hero. was long memorable for the great multitude of people. and the numerous troops of soldiers. and bands of Revolutionary veterans. Jackson was the first President to be inaugurated at the east portico of the Capitol. In the meanwhile. former President Adams was somewhere else. taking a horseback ride.
Martin Van Buren's inauguration had for notable features a ride from the White House to the Capitol with Jackson in a phaeton made out of wood from the old Revolutionary frigate Constitution. and two inaugural balls.
A third soldier-President in William Henry Harrison showed another martial- featured inauguration. with dancing and refreshments in the evening at three inaugural balls. He was the first President to die in office. and his successor quietly took the oath April 6.
James K. Polk, inaugurated March 4. 1845. had a popular demonstration of welcome to office. but with the disadvantage of such extremely disagreeable
