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inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
as the 40th
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
was held on Tuesday, January 20, 1981, at the West Front of the
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
in Washington, D.C. This was the first inauguration to be held on the building's west side. This was the 49th inauguration and marked the commencement of the first term of Ronald Reagan as president and of George H. W. Bush as
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the presidential oath of office to Reagan, who placed his hand upon a family Bible given to him by his mother, open to . Associate Justice
Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made major contributions to, among other areas ...
administered the vice presidential oath to Bush. At of age on Inauguration Day, Reagan was the oldest person to assume the presidency until
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
. While the inauguration was taking place, the 52 Americans being held hostage in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
were released.


Inaugural committee

The 1981
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies A Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is a special joint committee of the United States Congress formed every four years to manage presidential inaugurations. Such committee has been formed every four years since the 1901 inauguration of Will ...
, the group responsible for the planning and execution of the inauguration, was composed of: *
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Approp ...
( R- OR), Chairman *Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. (R- TN) *Senator
Robert C. Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...
( D- WV) *Senator Claiborne Pell (D- RI) * Representative John J. Rhodes (R- AZ) *Representative
Robert H. Michel Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional distric ...
(R- IL) *Representative Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. (D- MA) *Representative
Jim Wright James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas's 12th congressional district as a ...
(D- TX) It was this committee that made the decision to move the inauguration to the West Front of the Capitol from the East Portico, where it had been held, with few exceptions, since 1837. Decided upon in June 1980, the move was made in part to save money, since the West Front terraces could be used as an inaugural platform, eliminating the need to build one from scratch. Additionally, using the side of the building facing the
National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...
would provide more space for spectators. Ronald Reagan wore a
stroller Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...
for daytime, and
white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a wh ...
for the inaugural ball.


Inaugural address and release of hostages

Reagan's inaugural address was 2,452 words long. It utilized the vista offered by the West Front, invoking the symbolism of the presidential memorials and
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
in the distance. As Reagan was giving his address, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days were released. The Reverend Donn Moomaw, pastor of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, where Reagan and his wife, Nancy, worshipped, gave the invocation and benediction at the ceremony, and said: "We thank you, O God, for the release of our hostages." However, his prayer came before the hostages left Tehran. President Reagan was about to have lunch with congressional leaders in Statuary Hall in the Capitol after the inauguration ceremony when he was informed that the plane carrying the hostages had left Iranian airspace. During the luncheon, he broke the news saying: "With thanks to Almighty God, I have been given a tag line, the get-off line, that everyone wants for the end of a toast or a speech, or anything else. Some 30 minutes ago, the planes bearing our prisoners left Iranian air space, and they're now free of Iran." It is quite possible that the hostages left Tehran right before the ceremony started. The press held off on the announcement because it was next to impossible to discuss this development and the unfolding ceremony at the same time. Throughout Washington and throughout the country, there were celebrations to mark the inauguration and the release of the hostages. For the only time, the National Christmas tree on the ellipse near the White House was lighted on an Inauguration Day, and it was done to mark the release of the hostages. There were signs saying "444 DAYS!" as part of the celebrations. People wrapped the country in yellow ribbons, plastered freedom messages on billboards, and started preparations for welcoming the freed hostages home. The yellow-ribbon became a symbol of the solidarity of Americans with the hostages. The
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...
in
New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
was bathed in light, the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
lit in red, white, and blue, and the Boston Fire Department sounded gongs to hail deliverance of the hostages.


Weather

The noontime temperature on the day of the inauguration was , unseasonably warm for Washington, D.C in January.


See also

* Presidential transition of Ronald Reagan *
Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan The second inauguration of Ronald Reagan as president of the United States was held in a televised ceremony on January 20, 1985, at the White House, and was repeated the following day, January 21, 1985, at the Capitol's rotunda. This was the 50 ...
* Timeline of the Ronald Reagan presidency (1981) *
1980 United States presidential election The 1980 United States presidential election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 1980. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory ...
* Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign *
Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...


References


External links


Full text of the speech


{{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, 1st inauguration of Ronald 1981 speeches 1981 in American politics 1981 in Washington, D.C. Inaug 1 United States presidential inaugurations Inauguration 1981 Iran hostage crisis January 1981 events in the United States