Presidential Inaugural Address Fun Facts: There Has to be Something Interesting There
A new presidential administration begins with the oath of office. (Although, you will want to read this article to find out whether the oath is really necessary.) Typically, the first official duty of the new president is to deliver the inaugural address.
Presidential inaugural addresses are as varied as the men who delivered them—some long, some short, some unintentionally funny, and others filled with history-making firsts. Listening to or reading all of them is a guaranteed antidote for insomnia and should not be undertaken while driving or operating heavy machinery.
On the other hand, there are plenty of presidential inaugural address fun facts that are a lot easier and enjoyable to digest. Here are some of the quirkiest, most memorable facts about these speeches:
1. Harrison’s Verbal Marathon: William Henry Harrison holds the record for the longest inaugural address, clocking in at a jaw-dropping 8,460 words and taking 1 hour and 45 minutes to deliver. It was 3,000 words longer than the runner-up, William Howard Taft’s. Daniel Webster, who edited Harrison’s speech, claimed he trimmed it down by “killing 17 Roman proconsuls as dead as smelts.” Unfortunately, the speech also killed off the 9th president. He delivered the mammoth speech without a coat while standing in the frigid weather. He caught a cold that developed into pneumonia and died one month later. Ironically, the longest inaugural address was delivered by the president with the shortest term of office.
2. Washington’s Blink-and-You’ll-Miss-It Moment: On the opposite end of the spectrum, George Washington’s second inaugural address was just 135 words long and lasted less than two minutes. A perfect example of letting your actions speak louder than your words.
3. Sentence Structure Gone Rogue: John Adams’ inaugural address might not win awards for brevity, but it does get points for punctuation. One sentence in his 2,308-word speech contained 727 words, 60 commas, 17 semicolons, and one lonely period. You’d need a deep breath—and a roadmap—to get through that literary maze. It was still shorter, however, than the literary monstrosities discussed in this article that extended to 33 and 96 pages.
4. Laugh Lines (Accidental Edition): Humor isn’t a hallmark of inaugural addresses, but Martin Van Buren got laughs during his speech in 1837. He said, “Unlike all who have preceded me, the Revolution that gave us existence as one people was achieved at the period of my birth; and whilst I contemplate with grateful reverence that memorable event, I feel that I belong to a later age and that I may not expect my countrymen to weigh my actions with the same kind and partial hand.” If that didn’t exactly elicit an LOL, ROFL, or half-hearted emoji, that’s because it admittedly isn’t a joke that Jimmy Fallon is likely to steal any time soon. Van Buren drew unintentional laughter for his comments. While intending to praise the American Revolution, he accidentally implied he was personally the revolution’s greatest achievement. Again, not the most rip-roaring of presidential humor, but the spectators were likely quite bored and grateful for the distraction.
5. Tech-Savvy Presidents: Inaugural addresses have always embraced cutting-edge technology:
- 1801: Thomas Jefferson’s address was printed in newspapers.
- 1849: James K. Polk’s speech was transmitted by telegraph.
- 1921: Warren G. Harding’s speech was amplified by loudspeakers.
- 1925: Calvin Coolidge’s address was the first broadcast on radio.
- 1929: Herbert Hoover’s was recorded on newsreel.
- 1949: Harry Truman’s was the first televised inaugural.
- 1997: Bill Clinton’s second inaugural was streamed live on the internet.
Read or listen to the inaugural addresses of the presidents at The American Presidency Project.
6. Embarrassing Headlines: Poor James Buchanan had a rough start in 1857. Not only did his inaugural address fail to inspire, but the primary thing the nation hear about the event was his gastrointestinal problems. The accompanying New York Times headline read: “Narrow Escape of the President Elect from a Violent Death.” The article reported Buchanan’s discomfort in dealing with diarrhea. It’s bad enough that politicians are afflicted with diarrhea of the mouth; the world had to learn that Buchanan couldn’t control the other end of his body, either.
7. Presidential Umbrella Service: Grover Cleveland lost his re-election bid in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison. Far from being a sore loser, he not only attended Harrison’s inauguration but held an umbrella over his successor’s head as he delivered his inaugural address in a rainstorm. Talk about a class act. Of course, those were the days when civility was the norm. Nearly thirty years earlier, Abraham Lincoln’s opponent held Lincoln’s hat for him during the 16th president’s inaugural address.
8. Lincoln’s Typos: The Lincoln Memorial immortalizes Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address—with one glaring typo. The word “FUTURE” was engraved as “EUTURE.” It was later patched up, but you can still spot the fix if you look closely.
9. Swearing-In Alternatives: While most presidents are sworn in with a Bible, a few broke tradition:
- John Adams used a book of law to symbolize the Constitution.
- Franklin Pierce used a book of law because he was not — at that point, anyway — a believer in the Bible. He was also the first president to take an affirmation of office, instead of an oath.
- Lyndon B. Johnson, in the haste following JFK’s assassination, used a Catholic Missal aboard Air Force One.
- Theodore Roosevelt skipped the book altogether during his private swearing-in after McKinley’s death.
10. Memory Master: Franklin Pierce delivered his 3,319-word inaugural address entirely from memory—no notes, no teleprompter. Imagine the pressure!
11. “Lame Duck” Buchanan: James Buchanan made it clear in his 1857 inaugural address that he wasn’t seeking re-election, stating, “Having determined not to become a candidate for reelection, I shall have no motive to influence my conduct… except the desire ably and faithfully to serve my country.” Many historians think his decision—and presidency—left much to be desired.
12. Booth in the Crowd: A photograph of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address reveals a chilling detail: John Wilkes Booth, the man who would assassinate Lincoln a month later, is visible in the audience. Booth later wrote in his diary that he regretted not seizing the “excellent chance” to act that day.
13. Mum’s the Word: Five presidents did not give inaugural addresses, due to taking office upon the death or resignation of their predecessors. Although some made speeches for the occasion and there were some memorable lines, such as Gerald Ford’s, “Our long national nightmare is over,” the speeches are not classified as inaugural addresses.
14. Bonus Fun Fact: The average length of a presidential inaugural address is 2,340 words—smack dab between Washington’s micro-speech and Harrison’s endurance test.
Up next: A table of all the inaugural addresses and their lengths. Spoiler alert: They’ll make you grateful for the invention of word limits.
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