The Fifty-Seventh Presidential Inauguration on January 21, 2013 presented by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

Swearing-In Ceremony for President William McKinley

Twenty-Ninth Inaugural Ceremonies, March 4, 1901

Program

Inaugural Address

‘ My Fellow-Citizens: When we assembled here on the 4th of March, 1897, there was great anxiety with regard to our currency and credit.’

Read the address
(Words: 2215)

Presidential Oath of Office

Administered to William McKinley by the Honorable Melville W. Fuller, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Library of Congress

  • Bible Used: Bible provided to him by the Clerk of the Supreme Court, open to Proverbs 16:20-21
  • Attire: Black suit, black coat

Vice Presidential Oath of Office

Administered to Theodore Roosevelt.

Library of Congress

  • Location

    East Portico,
    U.S. Capitol
    Washington, DC

    Weather

    Overcast. It rained overnight and then began again during the ceremony and ended at 3:45 pm. Total rainfall was 0.32 inches. Estimated noon temperature of 47°F.

  • Facts, Firsts & Precedents

    First time the U.S. House joined with the U.S. Senate, creating the JCCIC, to make Inaugural arrangements

  • Inaugural Committee

Video

Library of Congress

The second inauguration was a patriotic celebration of the successes of the recently concluded Spanish American War. The new Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, was a popular figure from the War. President McKinley again had defeated William Jennings Bryan, but the campaign issue was American expansionism overseas. Chief Justice Melville Fuller administered the oath of office on a covered platform erected in front of the East Portico of the Capitol. The parade featured soldiers from the campaigns in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. An inaugural ball was held that evening in the Pension Building.