MARCH 4 — Pre-1933 Inauguration Day: 1933 FDR elected first term; 1829 Andy Jackson’s inaugural community event at White House; 1841 Pres. William Henry Harrison gives deathly boring inaugural speech (literally)
MARCH 4
Big Inauguration Day. I know we’re all used to inaugurations happening in January, but until the 20th amendment was added to the Constitution in 1933, inaugurations took place on…
March 4. 1933 – FDR is inaugurated for his first term. Yes, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself FDR boldly and proudly exclaimed on the east wing of the White House on this rainy and blustery day. He outlined his plan for the New Deal, which was Roosevelt’s attempt to make capitalism work for everybody and not just for those at the top.
1829 – The craziest party the White House ever had.
Old Hickory Andrew Jackson had just beaten Old man Eloquent John Quincy Adams in one of the dirtiest campaigns in presidential history. The campaign was full of ruthless political attacks as well as personal ones. Leave Rachel alone already! I mean, Andy had killed over insults to his wife Rachel, but the insults just never stopped. In fact Rachel died a month after the election and Jackson blamed his political enemies.
But getting back to the party. On this day in 1829 he delivered his inaugural speech. And continued a tradition Thomas Jefferson started back in the day: the open house at the White House. Americans of all walks of life needed no invitation. They could show up, stand in line to hopefully shake hands with the president, maybe even come inside the white house for some punch and dessert. All great and peaceful, until the whiskey came out. Legend has it, floods of people ransacked the white house, digging cheese into the carpets with their boots, smashing china and chandeliers, standing on furniture with muddy shoes, and causing mayhem. The White House became Animal House. Old Hickory just bailed on the party and escaped through a back door and supposedly checked into a local hoteI. The only way to get the mob outside the white house was by moving the whiskey outside on the lawn.
I know how hilarious this story must sound, but according to whitehousehistory.org, actual damage to the white house that day was trivial. Jackson, America’s first democrat president, of course was succeedd by his secretary of state Martin Van Buren. But following that administration, the Whigs came into power and so did Tippecanoe and Tyler too.
1841 – President William Henry Harrison gave his inaugural speech alongside his running mate and new VP John Tyler. Harrison was a great fighter in the war of 1812 as well as against Tecumseh and Tippecanoe, hence his nickname Old Tippecanoe. But on this date in 1841, The Cincinnatus of the West delivered a nearly two hour speech in a snowstorm and he didn’t even wear a jacket. Friends, if you have trouble falling asleep at night, check out bartleby.com and look for this speech by President William Harrison. Here’s the first sentence of that speech to give you n idea.
“ CALLED from a retirement which I had supposed was to continue for the residue of my life to fill the chief executive office …… “ blah blah blah blah blah. Two hours of this. A month later, Harrison became the first president to die in office, as pneumonia from the snowstorm finally got over him. You might say his speech bored him to death.