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In the month of
January,
our SIRS solutions spotlight
the Presidential inauguration
from their unique perspectives.
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SIRS Knowledge Source®
President-elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the nation's 44th president on January 20, an occasion steeped in over two centuries of American history and tradition.
On that day, he will take the oath of office, promising to "faithfully execute the office of President of the United States" and to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
That oath and other inaugural rituals, including an inaugural address, were established during the country's first presidential inauguration of George Washington on April 30, 1789. While the significance of the day's key events remain largely unchanged, the particulars of and the festivities surrounding the occasion have evolved.
In 1809, James Madison held the first inaugural ball. By 1841, the largely military parade had become a civic celebration including floats and bands. Warren G. Harding, in 1921, was the first president to ride in an automobile to his inauguration. Franklin D. Roosevelt began the tradition of attending a morning church service prior to inaugural events; also in 1933, the 20th Amendment was ratified, declaring that the President's term of office shall begin on January 20 in the year following the election.
Our January Spotlight of the Month commemorates more than two centuries of presidential inaugurations, surveying past Inauguration Days and highlighting the inauguration of Barack Obama, themed "A New Birth of Freedom." Articles and Web sites include:
ARTICLES
1. Presidential Inaugurations
2. Election 2008 Timeline
3. The Obama Story: The Improbable Journey
4. Armed Forces Inaugural Committee Prepares to Welcome New President
5. Confident Reagan Takes Over
WEB SITE
I Do Solemnly Swear | Presidential Inaugurations
Read more articles from our Spotlights by logging on to our SIRS Knowledge Source® feature page. Note that the new month's content will not appear until the first of the new month.
SIRS Discoverer®
On January 20, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office and become President of the United States, just as all American presidents have done before him. He will arrive at the swearing-in ceremony, which takes place at noon on Inauguration Day, with President George W. Bush.
Following the oath, President Barack Obama will deliver his inaugural address. He will then attend a luncheon, a parade, and then the Inaugural Ball--a vast party that became an inaugural tradition in 1809. Obama's Inauguration Day, themed "A New Birth of Freedom," will be unique in many ways, just as prior presidents' Inauguration Days have been.
For example, President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration included a poetry reading by Robert Frost. At President Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration, on March 4, 1865, African Americans participated in the inaugural parade for the first time.
Learn more about the history and evolving traditions of Inauguration Day, and about Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration, in the SIRS Discoverer Spotlight of the Month. Articles and Web sites include:
ARTICLES
1. Barack Obama
2. How Stuff Works: How Presidential Inauguration Works
3. Oath and Inauguration
4. Pomp and Presidents
5. Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural
WEB SITE
Inaugurations: From George W to George W
Read more
articles from the Spotlight of the Month by logging on to SIRS Discoverer®.
Monthly Events/Holidays
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Born January 15
Source: Library of Congress (LOC)
"Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., twentieth-century America's most compelling and effective civil rights leader, was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia." (LOC) Read a concise biography of Dr. King with links to relevant Library of Congress materials.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Source: Clayborne Carson, Stanford University
"One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on 15 January, 1929." (CLAYBORNE CARSON) Read this biography of King by one of the world's most prominent historians and scholars of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Spotlight of the Month topics are selected mainly from
Chase's Calendar of Events. Articles are also accessible within the main database and remain in our SIRS newsletter archives for one year.
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