Pop Quiz: When was the last March 4th Inauguration?

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the last president to take the oath office on March 4 in 1933, when he was sworn in for his first term. But Inauguration Day is now set on January 20^th.  When did that happen and why?

The change followed ratification of the 20th Amendment in January 1933.  This alteration came about because the period between Election Day and the opening of a new session of Congress or a presidential inauguration was too long under the original terms of the Constitution, sometimes creating a crisis as a “lame duck” Congress or the outgoing president could not act.  Nor could the incoming president-elect respond to an emergency, as in the case of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

As the National Constitution Center explains:

“The drama over March 4 every year ended when the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933. Part of the amendment eliminated an extended lame-duck Congress. The new amendment set January 3 as the starting day of a new Congress and January 20 as inauguration day for the president. The previous congressional and presidential terms ended just before the new terms began.”

AMENDMENT XX

Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.

Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

The complete text of Amendment XX can be found at The Constitution of the United States at the National Archives or  at the National Constitution Center

The original March 4 inaugural date was the day that the United States government was supposed to start business back in 1789 after the transfer of power from the previous government under the Articles of Confederation.

Ironically, there were not enough members of Congress for a quorum that day so the government actually started with a “shutdown.” The National Constitution Center offers an interesting history of the “birthday of the U.S. Government.” 

Franklin D. Roosevelt then became the first president to take the oath of office on the new date on January 20, 1937 when he was sworn in for his second term.

Don’t Know Much About®  the American Presidents (2012)
(From Hyperion and Random House Audio)