Inaugurations And The Weather

A History Of Hampered Swearing-Ins

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump’s second inauguration was moved indoors due to frigid temperatures in the nation’s capital. But this wasn’t the first presidential inauguration to be impacted by weather—not by a long-shot. In fact, just 40 years ago, Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inaugural was also moved indoors due to a -25F wind chill.

But inaugurations have been snakebitten by weather from the very first one—George Washington’s inaugural in 1789. Originally scheduled for March 4, harsh winter weather slowed the travel of the First Federal Congress to New York City—where they were tasked with counting the Electoral College ballots. They finally got to New York from the far-flung 13 states on April 6th. While Washington was unanimously chosen as our first Chief Executive, it took George until April 30th to travel from his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia to New York to finally be formally sworn-in. Then, 120 years later, ten inches of snow and roaring winds forced the inauguration of William Howard Taft indoors in 1909.

But perhaps the most notorious impact weather had on an inaugural was William Henry Harrison’s swearing-in on March 4, 1841. While the lowest temperature in Washington that day was 34 degrees, a cold rain fell on the proceedings. Harrison at the time was the oldest person to be elected President (68), and felt he needed to prove his heartiness to naysayers. So, he wore no hat, no coat and no gloves in the frigid rain. Plus, he spoke for over two hours and had previously ridden from the White House to the Capitol on a white horse (instead of the traditional carriage). Needless to say, the newly-minted 9th President fell ill and died one month after his inaugural—marking the shortest presidency in history.

So, an inaugural impacted in some way by weather is not an unusual event—in fact, it's fairly commonplace.