21ST INAUGURAL CEREMONIES
PRESIDENT
ULYSSES S.
GRANT
March 4, 1869
VICE PRESIDENT
SCHUYLER
COLFAX
March 4, 1869
ABOUT THE SWEARING-IN CEREMONIES
Ulysses S. Grant was sworn-in as the 18th President of the United States. Schuyler Colfax was sworn-in as the 17th Vice President of the United States during a separate ceremony on March 3, 1869.
Location:
East Portico, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
Weather:
Light rain all morning, stopping just before noon. The afternoon was mostly sunny. Total rainfall was .11 inches and the estimated noon temperature was 40°F.
Bible Used:
Bible provided by D. W. Middleton, Clerk of the Supreme Court, opened to Isaiah 11:1-3.
FACTS, FIRSTS, & PRECEDENTS
Andrew Johnson did not accompany President-elect Grant to the Capitol, nor did he attend the Inaugural Ceremonies. Instead, he remained at the White House signing last-minute legislation.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Delivered by Schuyler Colfax to the Senate on March 3, 1869
Read address in Senate Journal
VICE PRESIDENTIAL OATH OF OFFICE
Administered to Schuyler Colfax
by the Honorable Benjamin F. Wade,
President pro tempore,
in the Senate Chamber at the close of the 40th Congress
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
“The young men of the country—those who from their age must be its rulers twenty-five years hence—have a peculiar interest in maintaining the national honor. A moment’s reflection as to what will be our commanding influence among the nations of the earth in their day, if they are only true to themselves, should inspire them with national pride. All divisions—geographical, political, and religious—can join in this common sentiment. How the public debt is to be paid or specie payments resumed is not so important as that a plan should be adopted and acquiesced in. A united determination to do is worth more than divided counsels upon the method of doing.”
President Ulysses S. Grant
PRESIDENTIAL OATH OF OFFICE
Administered to Ulysses S. Grant
by the Honorable Salmon P. Chase,
Chief Justice of the United States