The
inauguration of
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
as the
39th 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 Thursday, January 20, 1977, at the East Portico of the
United States Capitol in
Washington D.C. This was the 48th inauguration and marked the commencement of the
presidency of Jimmy Carter and
vice-presidency of
Walter Mondale.
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the
presidential oath of office to Carter,
and
Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...
administered the
vice presidential oath of office to Mondale.
This was the last inauguration held on the East Portico of the Capitol building as well as the last time the chief justice would stand to the left of the podium, with the audience facing them, while swearing in a president. Exactly forty years later, Carter attended the
inauguration of Donald Trump
The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony ...
, becoming the first U.S. president to mark the 40th anniversary of his inauguration.
Inaugural ceremonies
Carter took the Oath with a Family
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, opened to
Micah 6:8 and also the same
Bible used by George Washington at his
1789 inauguration. The Bible that originally belonged to Washington was at the time in the possession of St. John's Mason Lodge No. 1.
The weather was cold, but sunny, with a wind chill factor in the teens.
The estimated noon time temperature was at around ,
but the cold did not stop many excited spectators from catching a glimpse of the new president being sworn into office.
Carter's inaugural address was 1,228 words long.
In it, he spoke of bringing "a new spirit" among us all", and urged Americans to "reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity".
He also expressed his desire that someday "the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting peace, built not on weapons of war but on international policies which reflect our own most precious values".
Following the swearing-in ceremony, Carter became the first president to walk from the Capitol to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
in the post-ceremony parade.
Carter also requested that the traditional Inaugural luncheon, an event hosted by the
Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee, be canceled.
Coverage of the event was provided by
CBS and the ceremony was televised throughout the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
The Carter Inauguration was the first following the opening of the Metro system and, in part because the inaugural committee paid to make the system free all day, it set a single day ridership record of 68,023 riders, a record that would last until the system was expanded the following July.
Music
Songs performed at Carter's inauguration included
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...
's "Crazy," sung by
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
;
Irving Berlin's "
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...
," sung by
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...
; "Take Care of This House" from the
Broadway musical ''
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' by
Leonard Bernstein and
Alan Jay Lerner, performed by
Frederica von Stade and the
National Symphony Orchestra; and "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's ''
Porgy and Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', ...
'' (lyrics by
DuBose Heyward), sung by
Donnie Ray Albert and
Clamma Dale
Clamma Churita Dale (born 1948) is an American operatic soprano. She portrayed "Bess" in the highly successful 1976 Houston Grand Opera production of ''Porgy and Bess''. The show was transferred from Houston to Broadway and Dale was awarded a 1 ...
. Additionally, ''
America the Beautiful'' was performed by the
United States Marine Band, and the ''
Battle Hymn of the Republic'' was sung by selected voices from
Atlanta University, Clark,
Morehouse,
Morris Brown, and
Spelman Colleges, and the
Interdenominational Theological Center.
The
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
was performed by Cantor Isaac Goodfriend of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, a
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
survivor.
See also
*
Presidential transition of Jimmy Carter
*
Timeline of the Jimmy Carter presidency (1977)
*
1976 United States presidential election
The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford from Michigan by a nar ...
*
Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign
References
External links
Video of Carter's Inaugural Address from hulu.com (with audio)Text of Carter's Inaugural AddressAudio of Carter's Inaugural Address
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jimmy
1977 in Washington, D.C.
1977 in American politics
United States presidential inaugurations
Inauguration
January 1977 events in the United States
1977 speeches