The inauguration of Grover Cleveland as the 22nd

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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

took place on Wednesday, March 4, 1885, at the East Portico of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

This was the 25th

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 inau ...

and marked the commencement of the first four-year term of

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

as president and the only term of Thomas A. Hendricks as

vice president A vice president or 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 vi ...

. Hendricks died days into this term, and the office remained vacant since there was no constitutional provision which allow an intra-term vice-presidential office filling; it would be regulated by the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967. Chief Justice

Morrison Waite Morrison Remick "Mott" Waite (November 29, 1816 – March 23, 1888) was an American attorney, jurist, and politician from Ohio who served as the seventh chief justice of the United States from 1874 until his death in 1888. During his tenure ...

administered the presidential oath of office, and Cleveland held a Bible given to him at age 15 by his mother as he recited it. Cleveland's second inauguration took place eight years after the first, as his two terms in office were not consecutive. He is the first U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms. In the presidential election of 1884, Cleveland won New York by only 1,500 votes out of over a million cast (Statistics taken from Miller Center). He was the first Democrat to win the presidency since the Civil War. In his first speech as president, he emphasized the importance of healing partisan divisions and encouraged citizens to scrutinize the government. At the time, there was a lot of political fighting between different parties, which Cleveland wanted to change. Additionally, he urged the American people to uphold the Declaration of Independence and not be afraid to overthrow a tyrannical government, should the need arise.

References

External links

Text of Cleveland's First Inaugural Address
“First Words: Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1885.” Miller Center, https://millercenter.org/issues-policy/governance/first-words-grover-cleveland-march-4-1885. Accessed 29 November 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland, Grover United States presidential inaugurations 1885 in Washington, D.C. 1885 in American politics

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 inau ...

March 1885 Thomas A. Hendricks

See also

References

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