The President now takes oath of office on January 20th because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who ratified the 20th Amendment (the "lame duck") it was to accomplish more while waiting in the wings during the intervening months of the peoples choice.
January 20th.
Until 1937, presidential inaugurations were held on March 4th, the same date that new members of Congress took office. When our country was founded, this sizeable gap between the election and the transfer of power offered a necessary transition period for the new leader. Without speedy transportation and efficient means of communication, assembling a government and moving to Washington could easily take months.
Yet a series of events demonstrated the problems with this lengthy lame-duck period. In 1803, President John Adams made a series of late-night appointments in the dwindling hours of his presidency, leading to the landmark Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison. Shortening the lame-duck period reduced the time during which similar controversial appointments could be made.
Jumping ahead to 1861, the country weathered a long lame duck period as Abraham Lincoln waited to take office while the nation was splintering, on the verge of the Civil War.
Similarly, in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt stood on the sidelines for four months, as the United States sunk into the Great Depression. Indeed, it was during that period, the lame duck months of Herbert Hoover's term, that the 20th Amendment was ratified.
The Amendment officially moved the date of the Presidential Inauguration to January 20th, and switched the beginning of senators' and representatives' terms to January 3rd. In addition, the 20th Amendment outlined the line of succession in the event that President-elect were unable to serve come the beginning of his or her term.
Courtesty of: http://www.pic2009.org/blog/entry/looking_back_why_january_20th/
The Constitution of the United States had established March 4 as Inauguration Day in order to allow enough time after Election Day for officials to gather election returns and for newly-elected candidates to travel to the capital. With modern advances in communication and transportation, the lengthy transition period proved unnecessary and legislators pressed for change. The date was moved to January 20 with the passage of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933.
US presidential inaugurations begin at noon EST on January 20th.
A lame duck is an elected official whose tenure is about to end. The 20th Amendment shortened the lame duck period by moving the beginning of the new Congress to January 3 and the presidential inauguration to January 20.
The presidential inaugurations occurs on January 20, of the year following the election.
Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States in 1984.Ronald Reagan (born February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois; died June 5, 2004 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California) served as the fortieth President of the United States, serving between January 20, 1981 and January 20, 1989, including the whole of 1984.
The 34th President of the United States was Dwight D. Eisenhower from January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961
The next presidential inauguration will be held on January 20, 2013 in Washington, DC.
The Presidential Inauguration Day is held on January 20. The term of the president officially starts at noon on that day.
The term begins immediately after the President is sworn in at noon on January 20 of years that follow the presidential election in November.It is true that the presidential term begins at noon, on January 20, following the previous presidential election.
The Presidential Inauguration Day is held on January 20. The term of the president officially starts at noon on that day.
Inauguration of a new presidential term takes place at noon on January 20 in the year following the presidential election. The next one will be Jan. 20, 2013. If Jan. 20, falls on Sunday, the public inaugurating ceremonies are held the next day. The exact quote from the 20th amendment to the US Constitution is "The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January,"
January 20, 2009.
January 20
January 20 at Noon.
every four years, on January 20.
On January 20 at noon in the year following the most recent Presidential election.
On January 20, 2001, the annual U.S. Presidential salary doubled from $200,000 to $400,000.
On January 20, 2009.