Fun Inaugural facts that you might know

Did you know?.....

 

President Barack Obama became the 17th Commander-in-Chief to give a second inaugural speech. Once in a private ceremony on Sunday, when his term officially began, and again in public on Monday, since inaugurations are not traditionally held on Sundays.

 

As a result, Obama matched FDR's record of being sworn in four times as the nation's leader. While FDR served four terms, President Obama had to take the oath again after Chief Justice John Roberts accidentally mixed up the words during the ceremony in 2009.

 

Believe it or not, the Constitution does not require the president to swear on a bible, but it's been tradition from the beginning, thanks to George Washington.

 

Washington also holds the record for shortest speech at just 135 words. In 1841, William Henry Harrison gave the longest speech. It lasted almost two hours in freezing temperatures. As a result, Harrison would last about another month before dying of pneumonia.

 

Nowadays, motorcades are nothing new, but in 1921, Warren Harding became the first president to use an automobile to get to and from the ceremony.

 

In 1925, Calvin Coolidge was the first president to have his inauguration broadcast live on the radio. Live television would follow in 1949 at Harry Truman's ceremony.

 

With television also came competition. In fact. more viewers turned in to watch an episode of "I Love Lucy," where Lucy goes into labor than watched Eisenhower's inauguration the next day. More than 30 years later, Reagan's private inauguration would fall on on Super Bowl Sunday. He did the coin toss via satellite.

 

Now take all this presidential knowledge and go impress a few friends.