Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907) The Inauguration of Washington as First President of the United States, April 30th 1789 – At the Old City Hall, New York – The oath of office was administered by Chancellor Livingston of the States of New York – Mr. Otis the Secretary of the Senate holding up the Bible on a crimson cushion., 1876 American, Hand-colored lithograph; Image: 8 7/8 × 12 1/2 in. (22.6 × 31.7 cm) Sheet: 13 1/2 × 17 11/16 in. (34.3 × 44.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962 (63.550.455) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/659888

Every four years, on January 20th, the nation witnesses a ceremony full of importance and laden with tradition. On this day the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court swears in the next President of the United States. Although the Oath of Office, as required by the Constitution, is a mere thirty-seven words, the day is filled with many speeches, parades, and later formal dinners and parties filled with famous guests and well-wishers.

If you would like to read more about any of the 45 men who preceded Joe Biden as President, the Porter Public Library has many biographies and books about our former presidents and there is something out there to suit the tastes and interests of our patrons.

Here are a few of the titles that can be found in our collection.

George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln by Edward Achorn

American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White

The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made by Patricia O’Toole

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life by Robert Dallek

Ronald Reagan by Jacob Weisberg

The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House by Chuck Todd

If a biography or a book focused on the administration of one single President isn’t for you the library has other titles about the Presidency in general you may find interesting. Here are a few titles:

The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency by John Dickerson

Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama by Ronald L. Feinman

First Dogs: American President and Their Best Friends by Roy Rowan and Brooke Janis

Dead presidents : An American Adventure Into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation’s Leaders by Brady Carlson