Between 73 and 79 days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term.
Presidential inauguration at the western front of the U.S. Capitol facing the National Mall (site since Reagan in 1981) – Joe Biden, January 20, 2021
Presidential inauguration with old overhead ceremonial porch at the eastern front of the U.S. Capitol (Lyndon B. Johnson, January 20, 1965)
Second inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt, 1905
President Reagan being sworn in for his second term "privately" on television, January 20, 1985
Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. Article Two vests the power of the executive branch in the office of the president of the United States, lays out the procedures for electing and removing the president, and establishes the president's powers and responsibilities.
George Washington's inauguration as the first U.S. president, April 30, 1789, by Ramon de Elorriaga (1889)
Certificate for the vote for Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler for the State of Louisiana
In this 1944 poster, Franklin Roosevelt (left) successfully campaigned for a fourth term. He was the only president who served more than two terms.
1888 illustration of new President John Tyler receiving the news of President William H. Harrison's death from Chief Clerk of the State Department Fletcher Webster