Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Kennedy vols. Currently on sabbatical. Follow at Medium. Read More ». Ratified January 23, Presidential Oath of Office The Constitution stipulates the oath of office for the President of the United States to be sworn during the inauguration. About David Coleman Historian. But it's been colder. The Continental Congress the country's governing body prior to the first elections set the first Wednesday in March to be the date of the first presidential inauguration, in , which happened to be March 4, according to Jim Bendat, author of "Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, " iUniverse, But this was a logistical decision based on the the need for both Congress members and presidential transition teams to relocate to the capital.
Related: The 6 strangest presidential elections in US history. In fact, that first inauguration, in , did not take place until April Bendat said Congress couldn't get enough of its members to show up for the inauguration of George Washington , so the ceremony was pushed back to the end of April. Following Washington's inauguration, Congress decided to keep March 4 as the date for all future ceremonies.
In research for his book, Bendat said, he found that part of the explanation for this choice of date beyond the time needed for the transition between presidencies was that Congress' study of future calendars revealed that this date was least likely to land on a Sunday.
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