Inauguration of James K. Polk

{{short description|15th United States presidential inauguration}}

{{Infobox historical event

|Event_Name = Presidential inauguration of
James K. Polk

|Image_Name = Polk inauguration Oath London News.jpg

|Image_Caption = Sketch of ceremony in The Illustrated London News.

|Participants = James K. Polk
11th president of the United States
— Assuming office

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Roger Taney
Chief Justice of the United States
— Administering oath

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George M. Dallas
11th vice president of the United States
— Assuming office

---

Willie Person Mangum
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
— Administering oath

|Location = United States Capitol,
Washington, D.C.

|Date = {{Start date and age|1845|03|04}}

| notes = {{Succession links|left=1841 (extraordinary)|right=1849}}

}}

The inauguration of James K. Polk as the 11th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, March 4, 1845, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 15th inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both James K. Polk as president and George M. Dallas as vice president. Polk was sworn in by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. This was the first inaugural ceremony to be reported by telegraph and to be shown in a newspaper illustration; it appeared in The Illustrated London News.{{cite web| url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/past-inaugural-ceremonies/15th-inaugural-ceremonies/| title=The 15th Presidential Inauguration: James K. Polk, March 04, 1845| publisher=United States Senate| access-date=May 20, 2020| archive-date=January 20, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120233430/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/past-inaugural-ceremonies/15th-inaugural-ceremonies/| url-status=dead}}