Inauguration Day History

By Chloé Richards
AframNews
https://aframnews.com/

Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20th, 2025. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) is also on January 20th, 2025. Unfortunately, due to the United States Constitution the inauguration date is set in stone. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on January 23rd, 1933, this amendment was created to make sure newly elected officials would take office faster after elections. 

The President and Vice President start their jobs every four years on January 20th, sometimes January 21st if the 20th falls on a Sunday. Presidential inaugurations used to take place on March 4th or March 5th if the 4th was on a Sunday. The 37th President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the first president sworn in on January 20th, 1937. 

MLK Day is a federal holiday to honor Dr. King. The holiday is celebrated on every 3rd Monday in January. His birthday is on January 15th, but the holiday is not celebrated then because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, this is a law that requires certain holidays to fall on Monday’s so people with jobs can get a 3-day weekend. 

MLK Day became a federal holiday on November 2nd, 1983, and was first observed on January 20th, 1986. President Ronald Regan signed it into law. It was officially observed in all 50 states in 2000. There have been 9 presidential inaugurations since then. Two of which have fallen on MLK Day; Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 and Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. (Obama’s inauguration date was January 21st, 2013, because the 20th was a Sunday) If Kamala Harris would have won both Black presidents would have taken office on MLK Day. 

Trumps inauguration falling on MLK day may upset many Black people; MLK Day represents Dr. King’s dedication to racial equality and justice. Trumps beliefs, policies, and actions go against that. For many Black people, Trump’s presidency has felt like a setback in terms of advancing justice for racism. According to the Intelligencer, Trump spent his first MLK Day in 2017 golfing. 

In August, at a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida President Trump bragged and compared his January 6th event to Dr. King’s I have A Dream Speech. According to NBC News he said, “Nobody has spoken to crowds bigger than me,” “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people.” 

The fact that Trumps inauguration and MLK Day both fall on January 20th, 2025, is simply just the luck of the draw, the dates were not picked on purpose. The coincidence is a reminder of how history can be moving forward and backward at the same time. Black people must continue to push for progress even when things begin to feel like a setback.