Presidential Inauguration Trivia
How knowledgeable are you about presidential inauguration history?
Take this 10-question quiz, then check yourself against the answers that follow.
1. Which president was the first to take the oath of office in Washington, D.C.?
2. Which president was the first to review the inaugural parade from a temporary stand in front of the White House?
3. When did the first African Americans march in the inaugural parade?
4. Just one inaugural parade is known to have been canceled because of bad weather. Whose was it?
5. Until the 20th Amendment changed the date to Jan. 20, U.S presidents were inaugurated in what month?
6. Who was the first president to begin his term in January?
7. Which president delivered the longest inaugural address, at an hour and 45 minutes (more than 8,400 words)?
8. What president first swore to uphold the Constitution with one hand on the Bible that President-elect Barack Obama will use in taking the oath of office on Jan. 20?
9. Upon his Jan. 20, 1961, inauguration, President John F. Kennedy achieved what two distinctions?
10. Where did the first presidential inauguration take place?
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ANSWERS:
1. Thomas Jefferson, whose first inauguration, March 4, 1801, took place while the U.S. Capitol was still under construction.
2. James Garfield, March 4, 1881.
3. Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, March 4, 1865.
4. Ronald Regan, whose second inauguration was disrupted by extreme cold. He took the oath privately on Jan. 20, 1985, a Sunday, and the parade planned the following day was canceled.
5. March.
6. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jan. 20, 1937.
7. William Henry Harrison, March 4, 1841. He died of pneumonia one month later.
8. Obama will use the Bible, part of the Library of Congress’ collections, that was used at the March 4, 1861, first inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln.
9. Kennedy became the youngest elected president, at 43, and the first Catholic.
10. President George Washington took the oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789.
Sources: www.nationalgeographic.com; http://inaugural.senate.gov; Associated Press |
