Millions of people across the country are expected to tune in to support the president-elect Trump’s second inauguration ceremony. Television networks, online publications and social media are preparing for the big event. The way inaugurations are presented to the public has changed dramatically over the years.
“We have to think big and dream even 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 online streaming. But inaugural address 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 several days later.
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Thomas Jefferson became the first president to have his inauguration speech printed in a newspaper on the same day he gave his speech in 1801. The National Intelligencer printed the speech on the morning of Jefferson’s inauguration.
James Polk was the first president whose address was reported by telegraph. It was also the first time a speech was shown in a newspaper illustration, by Illustrated London News.
James Polk takes the presidential oath in this illustration of his inauguration. Polk’s inauguration was the first published in newspapers for illustration purposes. (Library of Congress)
Drawings were the main visual for inaugurations another twelve years, until photography became more widely used. James Buchanan was the first president to have a photo taken at his swearing-in. Another forty years later, video was used to record inaugurations for the public.
William McKinley was the first president to appear on a movie 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 have his photo taken when he was sworn in. (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 inauguration broadcast nationally via radio. The White House Historical Association estimates that his 1925 speech reached more than 23 million radio listeners. Herbert Hoover gave the first multimedia inauguration. His 1929 speech was the first to be recorded on a talking newsreel.
“It is a dedication and commitment under God to the highest office in the service of our people,” Hoover said during his speech.
After the Second World Waran increasing number of Americans were purchasing television sets for their homes. In 1949, almost all major cities had at least one local television station and 4.2 million American homes had television sets. Harry Truman became the first president whose inauguration was broadcast live that year. More than a decade later, John F. Kennedy had his speech broadcast in color to the estimated 500,000 Americans who had color television sets.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” Kennedy said during his inauguration speech.
Ronald Reagan sought to bring the pageantry of inauguration events to Americans across the country. His inaugural committee organized approximately 100 satellite inaugural balls that were broadcast to 32 cities.
In the past, Americans had to wait days before they could read a president’s inaugural address in the newspaper. Today, the event can be livestreamed in real time around the world. (Associated Press)
“Nearly 200 years ago, at the first inauguration, people came by stagecoach. This time, people from all over America, millions of people, are attending by satellite,” Reagan said at a ball at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
More than ten years later, Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 was available via livestream on the Internet. Clinton had signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law at the Library of Congress just a year earlier.
“Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of physicists; today it is an everyday encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren,” Clinton said during his inaugural address. “As we look back on this remarkable century, we can ask ourselves, ‘Can we not only hope to follow, but even surpass, the achievements of 20th century America?’”
With the growth of the internet, the use of social media also increased.
“We have always understood that when times change, so must we,” Barack Obama said during his second inaugural address in 2013.
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Obama was the first president to join Twitter. His 2013 speech generated more than 1 million tweets. According to Pew Research, about 51% of Americans owned a smartphone at the time. When Trump was sworn in in 2017, that percentage rose to 77%. Cell phone companies installed extracellular antennas in front of the address for the huge crowds that would share photos and videos of the day’s events on social media.
When Joe Biden gave his address in 2021, his opening committee relied on technology for almost every aspect of the event. The coronavirus pandemic forced much of Biden’s festivities to take place online.
“The world is watching us all today. So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested, and we have emerged stronger,” Biden said during his speech.
