The stories you are going to read here are taken from “American Weather Stories” published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1976. If 2013 happened to be an election year we’d be looking forward to Inauguration Day when the new president takes the oath of office. January 20th is the day the event is held now, but that wasn’t the case when it all got started. The First Congress picked March 4 as Inauguration Day apparently due to respect for the Sabbath because it falls every four years least frequently on Sunday. (So much for the separation of Church and State.) The first one was held in New York City in 1789, the second in Philadelphia in 1793, the third in 1797 also in Philly. The first Inauguration held outside was for James Monroe, held on March 4, 1817. That was a perfect day with sunshine and warm temperatures. Monroe’s luck didn’t hold out though. His second Inauguration Day would have fallen on a Sunday so it was scheduled for Monday March 5. Rain and snow fell the night before and some snow fell on Monday. The noon temperature was only 28 degrees so they moved the ceremony indoors to the House Chamber where an “immense crowd” of wet spectators filled the gallery to see the swearing-in.
John Quincy Adams Inauguration Day was in 1825 and it was chilly (47 degrees) and rained forcing the ceremony indoors once again. The next new Presidents had it relatively easy. Andrew Jackson had good weather in 1829 and 1833 for his Inauguration Days. The same was true for Martin Van Buren in 1837.
Tomb Of William Henry Harrison | Photo by acinablog.wordpress.com
What was it like on April 4,1841 when William Henry Harrison took the oath of office? He was the oldest man to become President, at age 68, and the day was cold. How cold was it you might ask? It was so cold that building owners along the Inaugural parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue charged $500 for window space to watch the parade from inside. To take a quick look at the parade through a window the charged $1.00 per person. It was windy and cold but Harrison refused to wear an overcoat or a hat. He road a white horse for the 2-hour procession from the White House to the Capitol. After he was sworn in Harrison gave a very long address that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. He also attended three inaugural balls that night still without a hat and coat. The weather stayed cold for the next couple of weeks and the President got soaked to the skin in a downpour and apparently stayed in the wet clothes all day long. He developed a cold which turned into pneumonia, something I can attest to as a bad situation, which got worse and he fell into a coma. He died on May 4, 1841 exactly one month after assuming the office of President of the United States making his the shortest presidency in our history.
It did rain a bit in 1845 for James K. Polk’s swearing in. Zachary Taylor’ Inauguration Day was March 5, 1849. It was cloudy, 42 degrees, with intermittent snow flurries. It also snowed throughout the day in 1853 for Franklin Pierce. James Buchanan had it easy in 1857 with bright sunshine and 49 degrees.
Lincoln’sFirst Inauguration |Image by dcwalkabout.com
Abraham Lincoln’s first Inauguration in 1861 had rain until midmorning then dry for the ceremony. Lincoln’s second Inauguration in 1865 was plagued by heavy rain the two days before the ceremony. Washington, D.C. was so deep in yellow mud that the Army engineers tried to lay a pontoon bridge between the White House and the Capitol but couldn’t do it because the bottom was too soft to hold the anchors of the workboats. The rain stopped and the clouds started to break up as he began his address. The sun actually broke through and lit up the face of the Capitol building behind Lincoln.
For Ulysses S. Grant had just a little rain that broke out into sunny skies and 40 degrees. His second swearing in ceremony in 1873 was clear cold with 16 degrees and windy. It was cloudy and 35 degrees with brief periods of light snow in 1877 as Rutherford B. Hays took the oath of office. James A Garfield took the oath in 1881 with 33 degrees, snow until 10 AM, then a sunny and windy afternoon. Grover Cleveland split the difference. His first Inauguration Day in 1885 was bright and sunny with 25 degrees for the temperature. His second in 1893 had snow and chilling winds. It rained all day for Benjamin Harrison in 1889 with .86 inches of rain measured for the day. William McKinley’s first ceremony in 1897 was sunny, but his second in 1901 was overcast, 47 degrees and rain began during the ceremony. It was sunny with strong winds in 1905 as Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President.
In 1909 the Inauguration Day of William Howard Taft. A blinding snowstorm struck the day before and continued that day. A Congressman witnessed the event said it was “The worst weather on the face of the earth.” Six thousand shovelers tried but failed to clear the area in front of the White House and the Capitol. After all of that work Taft decided to take his oath of office in the Senate Chamber. About 20,000 marchers sloshed past the snow-covered stands flanking the parade route. To many it was the worst Inauguration Day weather in the nation’s history. Taft joked to a reporter friend of his saying “I always knew it would be a cold day when I got to be President.”
The weather was quite uneventful for Woodrow Wilson in 1913 and March 5, 1917, for Warren G. Harding in 1921, and Calvin Coolidge in 1925. Herbert Hoover saw .40 inches of rain and 48 degrees in 1929.
Franklin D. Roosevelt had the most Inauguration ceremonies of any president, four. In 1933 it was just cloudy and 42 degrees, in 1937 the day was changed by Congress to January 20 and the temperature was 33 degrees and 1.77 inches of rain for the day, sunny, 29 degrees with a brisk wind was the weather for his 1941 swearing in, and 1n 1945 just cloudy with light snow still on the ground
Harry S. Truman had it easy with mostly sunny skies, 38 degrees and windy. Dwight D. Eisenhower saw cloudy skies with 49 degrees for his first Inauguration Day in 1953 and on January 21, 1957 a chill wind and 44 degrees.
Kennedy Inauguration |Photo by Paul Schutzer of life.com
The night before John F. Kennedy was to take the oath of office in 1961 a similar storm raged in Washington, D.C. dropping 8 inches of snow and causing the most crippling traffic jam in the city’s history. Hundreds of motorists were stranded, thousands of cars were abandoned on the streets, and the President Elect had to cancel his dinner plans and apparently only got 4 hours of sleep that night. The snow ended by sunrise, but with the wind and bitter cold temperatures continued as the ceremony began at noon. The temperature was only 22 degrees with a 19 mph wind. An estimated 20,000 people huddled between snowbanks at the Capitol Plaza to see the swearing-in. About a million people watched the parade that included 30,000 marchers, a PT boat, and the 8 surviving members of the PT 109 crew that John Kennedy commanded in WW II. People began leaving and by the time the last marcher passed by the President, his brother Robert, and Robert’s wife Ethel Kennedy were almost alone on the reviewing stand. I am researching to see if I can find the weather history of the Inaugurations that have occurred since John Kennedy’s.
Completing the list of presidents listed in the publication we finish with Lyndon B. Johnson In 1965 with cloudy skies and 38 degrees and some snow on the ground to Richard Nixon’s two times. First in 1969 when it was overcast, 35 degrees, with a chilly northeast wind and his second swearing in in 1973 where again it was overcast, 42 degrees, and again a chilling northeast wind.
As I see it, this all goes to prove that “Mother Nature” has no respect for high office, but that we must respect “Mother Nature” or face the consequences like William Henry Harrison.
Let me know what you would like me to talk about or explain. You can comment below or email me at: tim.chuey@eugenedailynews.com.