The second

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 inaugu ...

of Harry S. Truman as

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

was held on Thursday, January 20, 1949, 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 the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

in Washington, D.C. This was the 41st inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and only full term of Harry S. Truman as president as well as the only term of

Alben W. Barkley Alben William Barkley (; November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served in both houses of Congress and as the 35th vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 under Presiden ...

vice president A 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 vice president is on ...

. Chief Justice

Fred M. Vinson Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson (January 22, 1890 – September 8, 1953) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th chief justice of the United States from 1946 until his death in 1953. Vinson was one of the few Americans to ...

administered the presidential oath of office while

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Stanley Forman Reed Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He also served as U.S. Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938. Born in Ma ...

administered the vice-presidential oath of office. It was the first televised U.S. presidential inauguration and the first with an air parade. Truman also restarted the tradition of an official inaugural ball, which had disappeared since the inauguration of William Howard Taft in 1909.

Celebration

The inaugural celebration, organized by Melvin D. Hildreth, lasted the full week from January 16–23.Jane Krieger, "Truman Inaugural to be Gala Show", ''New York Times'', December 12, 1948, p. E7; accesse
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The ''New York Times'' described it as "the most splendiferous since Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to lift the pall of gloom of 1933 with brave words proclaiming the New Deal".Anthony Leviero, "Truman appeals for unity in party to aid peace aims", ''New York Times'', January 19, 1949, p. 1; accesse
via ProQuest
Some confusion was generated when thousands of people received souvenir "invitations" that were in fact not valid tickets to inaugural events. 1.3 million people reportedly stood on Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues in Washington, D.C., to watch the inaugural parade. Six hundred warplanes flew overhead, and army soldiers marched with new weaponry on display. Some of the marching units were racially mixed. During the parade, Truman was saluted by retired general and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the president of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

.Philip Potter, "Truman Calls For Bold World-Aid Plan; 1,300,000 Line Route Of Inaugural Parade", ''Baltimore Sun'', January 21, 1949, accesse
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Truman drew media attention for 'snubbing' southern Governors

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Car ...

and

Herman Talmadge Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was an American politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. Talmadge, a Democrat, served during a t ...

during the parade.

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

Dorothy Maynor Dorothy Maynor (September 3, 1910 – February 19, 1996) was an American soprano, concert singer, and the founder of the Harlem School of the Arts. Early life Maynor was born Dorothy Leigh Mainor in 1910 in the town of Norfolk, Virginia to the R ...

and

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles ...

performed at the inaugural gala—the first African Americans to appear at this type of performance.

Ceremony

The inaugural ceremony took place on January 20, 1949. Truman took the

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

administered by Chief Justice of the United States Fred Vinson.Venice Spraggs, "Truman Restates Equality Credo At His Inaugural", ''Chicago Defender'', January 22, 1949, p.1; accesse
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Truman then delivered an address and departed with the parade. According to one analysis, the delayed arrival of members of Congress created a break in succession of Truman's terms as president: the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1933, states that a president's term ends at noon on January 20 after the election. As some members of Congress arrived 10 minutes late, and took another 10 minutes to take their seats, Vice President

was inaugurated at 12:23, technically serving as president for six minutes until Truman was inaugurated at 12:29."Inauguration Upsets Those Who Didn't Plan It That Way", ''Washington Post'', January 21, 1949; accesse
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In the inaugural address, sometimes called the Four Point speech, Truman discussed economic growth and opposition to Communism across the globe. This moment is often identified as the beginning of development policy in relation to

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

. Millions of people watched the inauguration, broadcast as a single live program that aired on every network. (Millions more listened on radio). Many schoolchildren watched from their classrooms. Truman authorized a holiday for federal employees so that they could also watch. The ceremony, and Truman's speech, were also broadcast abroad through the ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

'', and translated into other languages including Russian and German. According to some calculations, the 1949 inauguration had more witnesses than all previous presidential inaugurations combined."10,000,000 See Inauguration By Television: Total Greater Than All Witnessing Previous Ceremonies", ''Baltimore Sun'' (AP), January 21, 1949; accesse
via ProQuest

Demonstrations

Despite being widely attacked as communists, thousands of members of the

Civil Rights Congress The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a United States civil rights organization, formed in 1946 at a national conference for radicals and disbanded in 1956. It succeeded the International Labor Defense, the National Federation for Constitutional ...

arrived in Washington, D.C., to protest the inauguration. The group protested Smith Act trials of communist leaders, as well as unfair death penalty sentences for African Americans. They also called for a permanent

Fair Employment Practices Commission The Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) was created in 1941 in the United States to implement Executive Order 8802 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and com ...

and the abolition of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

.3,000 'Freedom' Crusaders Demand Civil Rights Laws
, ''Baltimore Afro-American'', January 29, 1949.

References

External links

Newsreel coverage of Truman's second inauguration from C-SPAN (via YouTube)Text of Truman's Inaugural AddressAudio of Truman's Inaugural Address
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truman, Harry S. 1949 in Washington, D.C. 1949 in American politics United States presidential inaugurations Inauguration 1949 Civil Rights Congress January 1949 events in the United States

Celebration

Ceremony

Demonstrations

See also

References

External links