Inauguration of Zachary Taylor
{{short description|16th United States presidential inauguration}}
{{Infobox historical event
|Event_Name = Presidential inauguration of Zachary Taylor
|Image_Name = File:The inauguration of Gen. Zachary Taylor-Dedicated to the Various Rough and Ready Clubs throughout the Union LCCN00650921 (cropped).jpg
|Image_Caption = Engraving of the inauguration of Zachary Taylor by Wm. Croome
|Participants = Zachary Taylor
12th president of the United States
— Assuming office
Roger B. Taney
Chief Justice of the United States
— Administering oath
Millard Fillmore
12th vice president of the United States
— Assuming office
David Rice Atchison
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
— Administering oath
|Location = United States Capitol,
Washington, D.C.
|Date = {{Start date and age|1849|03|05}}
| notes = {{Succession links|left=1845|right=1850 (extraordinary)}}
}}
The inauguration of Zachary Taylor as the 12th president of the United States was held on Monday, March 5, 1849, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and was the second instance of an inauguration being rescheduled due to March 4 falling on a Sunday, the Christian sabbath. This was the 16th regular inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both Zachary Taylor as president and Millard Fillmore as vice president. Taylor died {{age in years and days|1849|3|5|1850|7|9}} into this term, and Fillmore succeeded to the presidency. The presidential oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Inauguration Day started off being cloudy with snow flurries, but turned to heavy snow during the inaugural balls.{{cite web| url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/past-inaugural-ceremonies/16th-inaugural-ceremonies/| title=The 16th Presidential Inauguration: Zachary Taylor, March 05, 1849| publisher=United States Senate| access-date=May 19, 2020| archive-date=March 4, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304162320/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/past-inaugural-ceremonies/16th-inaugural-ceremonies/| url-status=dead}}
Inaugural festivities
Three inaugural balls were held later that day. To accommodate the large numbers of guests anticipated to be at one of them, a temporary wooden building was built in the Judiciary Square plaza.{{cite web| url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/days-events/inaugural-ball/index.html| title=Inaugural Ball| publisher=Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies| access-date=June 28, 2018| archive-date=September 21, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921061609/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/days-events/inaugural-ball/index.html| url-status=dead}} The ticket price for the event was $10 cash; the menu included: terrapins, Charlotte Russe, oysters and Roman punch.{{cite web| title=1849 Inauguration of President Zachary Taylor| website=HistoryGallery.com| others=Newspaper report, "Taylor Republicanism", the Daily Morning Star, New London, Connecticut, February 20, 1849| url=http://www.historygallery.com/historicmemorabilia/1849TaylorInauguralBall/1849TayloInauguralrBall.htm| access-date=June 28, 2018}}
The "presidency" of David Rice Atchison
Taylor's term as president began on Sunday, March 4, but his inauguration was not held until the next day out of religious concerns. Due to the postponement of the swearing-in ceremony until March 5, various friends and colleagues of Senator David Atchison asserted that on March 4–5, 1849, he was acting president of the United States.{{cite web| title=President for a Day: March 4, 1849| url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/President_For_A_Day.htm| publisher=Office of the Secretary, United States Senate| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=June 28, 2018}} They argued that, since both President James K. Polk and Vice President George Dallas ceased to hold their offices at noon on March 4, and since neither Taylor nor Fillmore had yet sworn their prescribed oath of office, both offices were vacant. As a result, they claimed, in accordance with the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, Atchison, by virtue of being the president pro tempore of the United States Senate, was the nation's acting chief executive during the interregnum. Historians, constitutional scholars and biographers dismiss the claim.{{cite book| title=From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession| last1=Feerick| first1=John D.| last2=Freund| first2=Paul A.| date=1965| url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books| publisher=Fordham University Press| location=New York City| pages=100–101| lccn=65-14917}}{{cite web| last=Klein| first=Christopher| title=The 24-Hour President| work=History Stories| url=https://www.history.com/news/the-24-hour-president| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180105234307/http://www.history.com/news/the-24-hour-president| archive-date=January 5, 2018| publisher=History and A+E Networks| date=February 18, 2013| access-date=March 4, 2024}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikisource|Zachary Taylor's Inaugural Address}}
- [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pi016.html More documents] from the Library of Congress
- [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/taylor.asp Text of Taylor's Inaugural Address]
- Joseph Gungl's [https://imslp.org/wiki/Inauguration_Quadrille%2C_Op.96_(Gungl%2C_Joseph) Inauguration Quadrille] was played at President Taylor's inauguration and dedicated to Mrs. Taylor.
{{Zachary Taylor}}
{{US inaugurations}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Zachary}}
Category:United States presidential inaugurations
Category:United States presidential inaugural addresses sorted by President
Category:1849 in American politics