For more than two hundred years America's citizens have witnessed the Inauguration ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the United States. From the first Inauguration of George Washington, in New York City, in 1789, to today, as we prepare for the 56th quadrennial Presidential Inauguration, the swearing-in ceremony represents both national renewal and continuity of leadership. As each president has offered a vision for America's future, we reflect on the heritage of Inaugurations past.

On January 20, 2009, the newly elected President of the United States will take the constitutional oath of office marking the 56th formal Presidential Inaugural ceremony since 1789. In all, U.S. Presidents have been sworn into office 68 times--usually in public, sometimes in private following the death or resignation of a President, or because Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday. While the U.S. Senate oversaw the first 28 Inaugurations of both the President and Vice President, since 1901, all Inaugural ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol have been organized by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC).

A separate Presidential Inaugural Committee, appointed by the President-elect, has responsibility for all official Inaugural events other than those held at the Capitol. The military also plays a role with the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, which coordinates all military participation and support for the Inaugural ceremonies.

Although the United States Constitution specified the oath to be taken by the President, the Framers of the Constitution provided that Congress would determine when and where the Inauguration would take place. As the nation grew, so too did interest in the Presidential Inaugurations. By the late 1820s, what had typically been a small, indoor ceremony moved outdoors, allowing more people to witness this important event first hand. By the end of the 19th century, the Presidential Inauguration had evolved into an elaborate day-long event, marked by parades, fireworks, luncheons, and glamorous Inaugural balls. As the event evolved, so did the Senate's role in the ceremony, and increasingly the House of Representatives became frustrated by their lack of involvement in the planning stage of Presidential Inaugurations.

In March of 1897, as preparations for William McKinley's first Inauguration were underway, members of the House of Representatives protested when they learned Senators would receive twice as many Inaugural tickets. Representatives were further angered when they discovered the Inaugural platform would be built entirely in front of the Senate wing of the Capitol. "In other words," the Washington Post reported, "the House is not to be recognized in this matter even a little bit." Senators defended their actions by reminding their House colleagues that, as a continuing body which advises the President on nominations and treaties, the Senate held a unique position within the federal government, one that was co-equal with the President. The Senate maintained its control over the 1897 Inauguration, but four years later the responsibilities were shared by both houses of Congress.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies was formed in 1901 to oversee Inaugural ceremonies at the United States Capitol. Representatives Joseph Cannon, John Dalzell, and Thomas McRae joined Senators Marcus Hanna, John Spooner and James Jones to plan McKinley's second Inaugural. Hanna chaired the committee, and continued the Senate tradition of accompanying the President-elect on his carriage ride to the Capitol. By all accounts, the joint effort was a success. The 1901 ceremony included parades and exhibitions viewed by the new President from a glass-enclosed reviewing stand at the White House, and the whole event was recorded--for the first time--by motion picture cameras.

Since 1901, Congress has created a new Inaugural committee every four years to plan and conduct the Inaugural activities at the Capitol, including the swearing-in ceremony and the luncheon honoring the President and Vice President. As tradition dictates, the Committee includes the Senate Majority Leader (at the time of appointment), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House of Representatives.

The current JCCIC was established by resolution (S.Con.Res. 67) on February 28, 2008. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, chairs the committee. Other members include Senators Harry Reid of Nevada and Bob Bennett of Utah, as well as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California and Representatives Steny Hoyer of Maryland and John Boehner of Ohio.

Click here to learn about the various events that take place on Inauguration Day.

Click here to read some fun "firsts and facts" about the Presidential Inauguration.

Abraham Lincoln defines the civic ideal of what it means to be an American. He overcame being poor and uneducated to become one of our country's greatest President. As America's 16th President, he fought to keep the nation from splitting apart. We are a stronger country today, partly because of President Lincoln.

President Lincoln believed that all people are equal - just like the Declaration of Independence says. He always thought slavery was wrong and worked to make slavery illegal in the United States. In his Gettysburg address, Lincoln reminded what "the brave men, living and dead" did on the battlefield and challenged the living to dedicate themselves "to the unfinished work" of those men. How much of that work is still not completed?

Surmounting race and assuring equal rights for all are Lincoln's two major challenges still on the nation's agenda. As the embodiment of the highest ideals and values of our nation, Abraham Lincoln can still help us meet those challenges.

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it." Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved a larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion. The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, by John Wilkes Booth, an actor who thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died. President Lincoln died at 7:22 the next morning. Following a funeral at the White House, his casket was viewed by millions as it was carried on a special train back to Illinois. He was buried May 4 in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.

Click here to learn more about President Lincoln and his legacy.

Click here for a quiz about President Lincoln's life.