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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 networks, online publications and social media are preparing for the big event. The way openings are presented to the public has changed dramatically over the years.
“We must think big and dream even bigger,” Trump said during his first inaugural address in 2017.
Tens of millions of people watched his first address in real time, both on television and streaming online. But opening speeches and analysis of the speeches were not always immediately available. In 1789, when George Washington was sworn in for the first time, his speech was not available to the public until a few days later.
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Thomas Jefferson became the first president to print his inaugural address in a newspaper on the same day he delivered his speech in 1801. The National Intelligencer printed the speech on the morning of Jefferson’s inauguration.
James Polk was the first president to receive his address by telegraph. It was also the first time a speech was shown in a newspaper illustration, from the Illustrated London News.
James Polk takes the presidential oath in this illustration of his inauguration. Polk’s inauguration was the first to be published as an illustration in newspapers. (Library of Congress)
The drawings were the main visual for the openings for another 12 years, until photography was used more frequently. James Buchanan was the first president to have his photograph taken at his swearing-in. 40 years later, video was used to record public openings.
William McKinley was the first president to appear on a motion picture camera during his inaugural address in 1901. Only silent films were available at the time, but this would change over the years as inaugural addresses began to incorporate audio.
James Buchanan was the first president to have his photograph taken when he took the oath of office. (Library of Congress)
In 1921, Warren Harding was the first to use loudspeakers to personally address the crowd attending his inauguration. Four years later, Calvin Coolidge was the first to have his inaugural national radio broadcast. The White House Historical Association estimates that his 1925 address reached more than 23 million radio listeners. Herbert Hoover held the first multimedia inauguration. His 1929 address was the first to be recorded on a talking newscast.
“It is a dedication and consecration under God to the highest office in the service of our people,” Hoover said during his speech.
After World War IIan increasing number of Americans were buying televisions for their homes. By 1949, nearly every major city had at least one local television station, and 4.2 million American homes had televisions. Harry Truman became the first president to broadcast his inauguration live that year. More than a decade later, John F. Kennedy had his address broadcast in color for the estimated 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 it was intended to bring the prestige of the inauguration events to Americans across the country. Its inaugural committee hosted about 100 satellite inaugural balls that were broadcast in 32 cities.
Americans used to have to wait days to read a president’s inaugural address in the newspaper. Today, the event can be streamed live in real time around the world. (Associated Press)
“Almost 200 years ago, at the first inauguration, people came by stagecoach. This time, people from all over America, millions of people, are watching by satellite,” Reagan said during a ball at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
More than a decade later, Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 it was available on the Internet via live streaming. Clinton had signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 just a year earlier at the Library of Congress.
“Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of physicists; today, it is a common encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren,” Clinton said during her inaugural address. “As we look back on this extraordinary century, we can ask ourselves, ‘Can we hope not only to follow, but even to surpass, the achievements of the 20th century in America?’
With the growth of the Internet, the use of social media also expanded.
“We’ve always understood that when times change, so must we,” Barack Obama said in 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 a smartphone at the time. When Trump took the oath of office in 2017, that percentage increased to 77%. Cell phone carriers set up extra-cellular antennas before the address for the massive crowd that would share photos and videos of the day’s events on social media.
when Joe Biden gave his address in 2021, its inaugural committee relied on technology for nearly every aspect of the event. The coronavirus pandemic forced much of Biden’s festivities to go online.
“The world is watching all of us today. So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it,” Biden said during his speech .
