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Show l841-IMAUGURATIOM PAy-194l "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." ' t I i , ' s ! - , " . ' ' : : 4k i ; ' , ' ' ' ! K , - V' ;i - ! i f T o ! f ' 5, - v f - 4 March 4, 1841 "Old Tippecanoe" Harrison, Indian fighter, rides in triumph to be inaugurated President Presi-dent of the United States. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) INAUGURATION DAY in 1841 was an historic occasion occa-sion for several reasons. After one of the most colorful color-ful and riotous political contests con-tests in the history of the nation na-tion the Whigs had succeed- served by an American President. Presi-dent. Twenty years later an even more momentous inaugural parade pa-rade moved through the streets of Washington. In a carriage was James Buchanan, an old man in a rusty swallow-tailed coat, slumped down beside a tall, lanky backwoodsman from Illinois in a new black suit and a shining high augurated in 1869, again soldiers were on guard because there had been threats against his life. But again fears for the safety of the President-elect proved groundless. ground-less. Grant's inauguration drew the biggest crowd that had yet gathered in Washington for this event. Many had to walk the streets of the city all night bej cause the hotels were filled and .h - ' ' iv if rfe l IsV y ' i t'M?A . ed m electing a Presidential Presiden-tial candidate for the first time. So they were ready to celebrate in a big way. Despite a heavy rain, the greatest great-est crowd that had yet attended an inauguration crowded into Washington to see "Old Tippecanoe" Tippeca-noe" Harrison become President.' A salute of 26 guns at daybreak heralded the opening of the big celebration. Early in the morning a carriage, car-riage, drawn by four white horses, presented by the Whigs of Baltimore, called for him at his hotel. But the general insisted upon riding horseback to his inauguration. in-auguration. Mounted on a white charger, with an escort of mounted mount-ed marshals, he rode to the Capitol, Capi-tol, holding his hat in his hand and waving it to the cheering crowds massed along his route. Behind him streamed "Tippecanoe "Tippe-canoe clubs" from Virginia and Maryland, dragging floats on each of which was mounted a log cabin with a hard cider barrel in front and a coonskin nailed to the door. Prophetic of the new industrial era just opening in America was a power loom, mounted on a wagon, sent there by a factory at Laurel, Md. More than 50,000 persons gathered gath-ered before the east portico of the Capitol to hear his inaugural address and they heard the longest speech that any President had ever given on that occasion. He stood for an hour, without hat or coat, in the biting wind until he had finished. But that was only the beginning of his hardships. All the afternoon he stood in a receiving line at the White House, greeting the thousands who streamed past him to shake his hand. That night there were three inaugural balls and the old soldier (he was 68 the oldest man ever elected President), borne up by the excitement of the occasion, attended all three. March 4, 1861 Chief Justice Taney administers "the oath to Abraham Abra-ham Lincoln. hat with a gold-headed cane in his hand. Double files of cavalry rode on each side of the carriage as it moved along Pennsylvania avenue ave-nue and riflemen were stationed on roofs commanding the thoroughfare. thor-oughfare. For men in the South had sworn that Abraham Lincoln should never be sworn in as President Pres-ident of the Disunited States. But they could obtain no lodging. Grant laid aside his inevitable cigar when he was sworn in but disappointed the crowd by not wearing his uniform of blue. Throughout the reading of his inaugural in-augural address his little daughter, daugh-ter, Nellie, who had slipped away from her mother, stood beside him arid held his hand. His second inauguration took ,w A v ' 4? j 6T '1 ' i i u . 5 i'' n fi ft ft f I . y V f March 4, 1013 Woodrow Wilson takes the oalh of office. fourths ever recorded in the national na-tional capital. Many people were frostbitten, as were some of the West Point cadets who paraded without their overcoats. The inaugural in-augural ball was a failure because be-cause the building was so cold that the musicians could scarcely scarce-ly play, the refreshments were frozen solid and none of the guests dared remove their outer wraps. Wilson's first inaugural was little lit-tle more than a triumphal procession pro-cession of Democrats celebrating their first victory since Cleveland and it was marked by the presence pres-ence of suffragists in the parade. It was marked also by the first illumination of the capital by searchlight. His second inauguration inaugu-ration was without the customary festivities, due to the threat oi war hanging over the nation. Again a President-elect rode ' to and from the Capitol between lines of heavily-armed soldiers and with armed watchers on the roof tops. A cold, misty rainstorm rain-storm added to the gloom of the occasion. It sent the President to bed with a cold, thus giving impetus to the demand that Inauguration In-auguration Day be moved forward for-ward to April, as it had been when our first President, George Washington, Wash-ington, was sworn in. Instead the date was moved back to January 20 and the first President to take his oath of office of-fice on that date was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who will take it again on January 20, 1941 for the third time I After the last ball was over, the general returned to the White House but he was too tired to sleep. Tremors of exhaustion shook his body as he stumbled into bed. Outside his window an owl hooted all night and the next morning the general complained that a howling dog had kept him awake. Negro servants in the Executive Mansion shook their heads ominously. It was a "sign," they said. And they were right. For within a month President William Henry Harrison died of the cold he had contracted while reading his inaugural address. His had been the shortest term the journey was made without untoward un-toward incident. A few minutes later the tall lanky man came out on the east portico, to be greeted by only the iaintest of cheers. Then, standing stand-ing before Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme Court, he took the oath of office. As he drew the manuscript of his address from his pocket, he could find no place to put his hat. So Stephen A. Douglas, his old friend and political po-litical enemy, stepped forward with the remark "If I can't be President, at least I can hold the President's hat." When Ulysses S. Grant was in- |