--- title: Presidential Inauguration Photos from LIFE Magazine description: Inaugurations as seen in the pages of LIFE magazine—with a photo from every Inauguration covered by the magazine. canonical: https://time.com/4622121/see-photos-from-every-presidential-inauguration-life-magazine-ever-covered/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-20T15:00:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:23.928Z og:title: Presidential Inauguration Photos from LIFE Magazine og:description: On the occasion of Donald Trump's swearing-in, LIFE.com offers a series of pictures of Inaugural ceremonies from Roosevelt through Nixon og:url: https://time.com/4622121/see-photos-from-every-presidential-inauguration-life-magazine-ever-covered/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09a14481aba0048f/6988b4675f570f3229b23ab6/09-nixon-inauguration-1969.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nixon Inauguration 1969 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Presidential Inauguration Photos from LIFE Magazine twitter:description: On the occasion of Donald Trump's swearing-in, LIFE.com offers a series of pictures of Inaugural ceremonies from Roosevelt through Nixon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09a14481aba0048f/6988b4675f570f3229b23ab6/09-nixon-inauguration-1969.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos From Every Presidential Inauguration LIFE Magazine Ever Covered by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jan 20, 2017 3:00 PM UTC  President Richard M. Nixon's inauguration, 1969. President Richard M. Nixon's inauguration, 1969.Henry Groskinsky—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jan 20, 2017 3:00 PM UTC During the[ 37 years ](http://time.com/3503080/the-best-of-life-37-years-in-pictures/)that LIFE was published, the magazine covered Presidential Inaugurations from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inauguration to Richard Nixon’s first inauguration in 1969, as the above photos show. The [Inaugurations](http://time.com/4628822/every-inauguration-ever/), which mark the (relatively) peaceful transfer of power that has defined American democracy for nearly 250 years, are the occasion to welcome a new administration with celebration and ceremony. FDR’s second Inauguration in 1937 was the first such ceremony that had taken place since the states ratified the 20th Amendment, which moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to Jan. 20—and, though it’s impossible to tell from this photo, the weather was accordingly wintry and it was sleeting. (By his third inauguration in ’41, LIFE [pitied](https://books.google.com/books?id=RUoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=%22inauguration+day%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSucKoq8%5FRAhWGRiYKHRQlDYMQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=%22inauguration%20day%22&f=false) Eleanor Roosevelt for having to worry about three inauguration outfits.) The magazine also documented the times when this transition of power hasn’t been precisely peaceful or smooth, as when the White House accidentally shipped all of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s clothes to his Gettysburg farm before the 1953 inauguration, [leaving him](https://books.google.com/books?id=1UUEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22life+magazine%22+%221961%22+%22kennedy%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwji05qjrM%5FRAhVHZCYKHfF-CKUQ6AEISjAJ#v=twopage&q&f=false) with only a bow tie and a [homburg hat](https://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/inauguration-us-capitol). The former World War II general’s second inaugural parade (1957) was more like an actual circus, with two elephants marching along. And an estimated 1,000 crashed President Richard Nixon’s 1973 festivities, “the first time in memory that anyone had tried to disrupt an inaugural parade,” TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1969-01-31/page/17/). But while the Barack Obama may say goodbye to the White House to make way for incoming president Donald Trump, it’s more like a “bye for now.” As Inaugurations bring the U.S. government together, past and present, it’s fitting that Eisenhower’s 1953 inauguration was the same one at which Herbert Hoover turned to his former political enemy Harry S. Truman and [said](https://books.google.com/books?id=AaJQJ1BLQ2MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=life+magazine+eisenhower+inauguration&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS5dnIoM%5FRAhXJLyYKHQUsCGEQ6AEIPjAF#v=onepage&q=eisenhower%20inauguration&f=false), “I think we ought to organize a former presidents club.”  A view of the inauguration ceremony of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Third inauguration ceremony of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fourth inauguration ceremony of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. George Skadding—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Harry S. Truman riding with Vice President Alben Barkley during the Presidential Inauguration parade, 1949. George Skadding—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Eisenhower Inaugural, 1953. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the first lady, riding in a car during the Inaugural ceremonies. 1957. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President John Kennedy and wife Jacqueline during the Inauguration Day Parade, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lyndon Johnson giving the inaugural address at his inauguration. First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson is seated to his right, 1965. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President Richard M. Nixon's inauguration, 1969. Henry Groskinsky—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4622121/see-photos-from-every-presidential-inauguration-life-magazine-ever-covered/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4622121/see-photos-from-every-presidential-inauguration-life-magazine-ever-covered/"},"headline":"See Photos From Every Presidential Inauguration LIFE Magazine Ever Covered","datePublished":"2017-01-20T15:00:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:23.928Z","description":"On the occasion of Donald Trump's swearing-in, LIFE.com offers a series of pictures of Inaugural ceremonies from Roosevelt through Nixon","url":"https://time.com/4622121/see-photos-from-every-presidential-inauguration-life-magazine-ever-covered/","keywords":["politics","photography","Presidents","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09a14481aba0048f/6988b4675f570f3229b23ab6/09-nixon-inauguration-1969.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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