Vice presidential inauguration of Alben W. Barkley
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
as president of the United States was held on Thursday, January 20, 1949, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol 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 ...
as vice president. 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
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 Mas ...
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
via ProQuest
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.Philip Potter, "Truman Calls For Bold World-Aid Plan; 1,300,000 Line Route Of Inaugural Parade", ''Baltimore Sun'', January 21, 1949, accesse
via ProQuest
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 Caro ...
and Herman Talmadge 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 Re ...
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 M ...
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. Such ...
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
via ProQuest
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 The Twentieth Amendment (Amendment XX) to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March4 to January 3. It also has ...
, 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
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 ...
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
via ProQuest
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. 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'', 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 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 comp ...
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 committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
.3,000 'Freedom' Crusaders Demand Civil Rights Laws
, ''Baltimore Afro-American'', January 29, 1949.


See also

*
Presidency of Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman's tenure as the 33rd president of the United States began on April 12, 1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and ended on January 20, 1953. He had been vice president for only days. A Democrat from Missouri, he ran fo ...
* First inauguration of Harry S. Truman *
1948 United States presidential election The 1948 United States presidential election was the 41st quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1948. In one of the greatest election upsets in American history, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, the Democra ...


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