inauguration

To Save Democracy, We Need Historical Memory to be "Hot"

by Shannon Bontrager

Historical memory can run hot or cold; hot memory, when we make ourselves vulnerable to the pain of the past, is a force that will ensure America doesn't just move on from the needless death of the COVID pandemic or the violence of the Capitol insurrection without committing to justice and accountability.

Amanda Gorman's Success Stirred A Bleak Undercurrent

by Manisha Sinha

Some critical response to young poet Amanda Gorman's Inaugural reading echoes the racist dismissal and condescenscion contemporaries leveled at the founding-era work of Phillis Wheatley.

Why Biden’s Inaugural Address Succeeded

Joe Biden's inaugural address won't be remembered as a masterpiece of rhetoric. But it succeeded in presenting an authentic and realistic picture of Biden's plans to lead the nation in crisis, argues The Atlantic writer. 

Biden's Inaugural and the Return of History

by Paul J. Welch Behringer

Joseph Biden's inaugural address signals a willingness to return to learning from history that may encourage the empathy and humilty elected officials need to solve the nation's problems. 

In His Inaugural Address, Biden Seeks To Move Past 'American Carnage'

Historians of the presidency and political rhetoric discuss how Biden's address on Wednesday may adapt the traditions of the inaugural address to an unprecedented context.

The Politics of an Inauguration Unlike Any Other

by Michael A. Genovese

Joe Biden's inauguration will be unlike any other, but he will need to draw on inaugural traditions of declaring purpose and invoking solidarity if he is to begin to repair national division.

Restoring Civil Society by Executive Order?: An Inaugural Reverie

by John L. Godwin

Joe Biden should defend the First Amendment right to peaceable assembly by a temporary emergency order criminalizing the carrying of firearms at public protest events and make clear that the threat of force is not part of the democratic process.

The Striking Contradictions of Richard Nixon's Inauguration 50 Years Ago, as Observed by Hunter S. Thompson

It had been a year of assassinations and police riots and defeats that had led, for Hunter Thompson, to the most unthinkable outcome of all: Richard Nixon’s victory march to the White House lawn. 

Jefferson Vs. Trump: How Their Two Inaugurations Differed

by John Boles

Both represented change. Both came to power after a nasty election. But Trump chose to be divisive.

Why Indiana Is Feeling Plucky Again!

by Jeff Tenuth

With Pence’s ascension, it’s back where the action is – and that’s where it was for a long long time.

What Was Missing from Trump’s Inaugural Address?

by John Fea

A sense of history.

What Historians Are Saying About Donald Trump's Inauguration

On Twitter.

Dear Democrats: Obstruct Now, March Later

by Fedja Buric

That’s the lesson from history.

Trump’s Washington Wedding

by Jill Lepore

An American Inauguration is like a wedding: the President is the groom, the people his bride. Donald Trump is about to pledge his troth. It didn’t always work this way, and, really, it shouldn’t. Washington isn’t Vegas.

Video of the Week: President Nixon's 1969 Inaugural Address

In which the president calls on Americans to dream the American Dream and unite.

The controversy behind the painting that will hang at Trump’s inaugural luncheon

George Caleb Bingham’s “The Verdict of the People” from 1855, which historians say depicts public reaction to a likely proslavery candidate’s election victory, was chosen as the painting that will be displayed behind the president’s table at the inaugural luncheon.

A nation of dissent: The most famous inaugural protests in U.S. history

Americans have protested incoming presidents throughout history, starting in the 19th century.

How Trump's Inauguration Compares to Inaugurations Past

Thousands of people are expected to descend on the nation’s capital on Friday, in what is shaping up to be the least benign presidential inaugural ceremony in American history.

Presidential Inauguration History: From Grand to Fatal to Downright Awkward

Many presidents found that their predecessors could be less than gracious during the ceremonies.

What Would MLK Make of Donald Trump?

by Daniel Thomas Fleming

In every imaginable comparison they are polar opposites.