Presidential inaugurations are by definition historic acts, but when we think of inauguration days past, there is clearly a hierarchy of historical popularity.

Who can forget John F. Kennedy’s 1961 “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Or when Ronald Reagan first moved the ceremony 20 years later from the U.S. Capitol on the East Front to the majestic West Front facing the National Mall and the Washington Monument? Or the surprise of seeing the grand stage and spectacle shrink to the interior space of the Capitol Rotunda due to the freezing cold in 1985? The latter scene will be repeated on Monday as Trump's second inauguration will be held indoors as temperatures plummet.

Generally, the most dramatic events are when newly elected presidents take office for the first time, especially those elected by an opposition party that previously controlled the White House. These events attract the largest crowds and inspire the most breathless anticipation.

The atmosphere itself seemed to ask: How would things be different now in Washington, the country, and the wider world? These problems do not accompany re-elected incumbents, no matter how comforting that re-election and continuation of power may be at the time. The thrill of the first day is rarely as strong as the second.

Two transformative inaugurations

We've seen this kind of transformative Inauguration Day twice in recent years, once with the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009 and again with the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2017 . Both men were considered unlikely to win their respective parties' nominations. Both men overcame these difficulties by doing things far away from Washington and its importance.

Their inauguration thus spoke of a dramatic departure, even as they performed the day's rituals and touched upon all traditional bases. Obama and Trump launched very different movements. Obama's coalition came to be known as the "Ascendant Coalition," a mix of young voters, women and people of color. While these categories have tilted toward Democrats for several cycles, they had an impact on Obama and easily overcome the Republican candidate's continued lead in the white vote.

Trump’s movement has its own demographics that are somewhat at odds with Obama’s, but it clearly revives the idea of ​​populism as a force. In its early glory days, the term belonged to rebellious farmers and workers who felt that Wall Street and the wealthy were shutting them out. There is a more political dissatisfaction among Trump voters, a belief that they have been marginalized or even outright ignored by recent presidents from both parties. They understood what Trump meant when he called the nation’s industrial base “American carnage” and knew he was talking about jobs, immigration and looming social change.

Although Obama and Trump had different messages, they each met their own timing. People — or at least many people — responded in numbers that exceeded previous expectations for Inauguration Day turnout.

Obama drew crowds from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and beyond. While officials have stopped estimating crowd sizes, various fact-checking groups say Obama's 2009 crowd was nearly twice the size of his 2013 crowd, The gathering still looked bigger than Trump's 2017 gathering. Trump famously disputed this, giving various estimates that were roughly double what most fact-checkers reported.

But the bigger point is that both candidates drew huge crowds, many of whom may have never thought of attending an inauguration before. In this sense, they were like the frontier people in the late winter of 1829, trudging the dirt roads to Washington, intent on celebrating their hero, Andrew Jackson, and flocking to the White House. This was also a wave of populism long before the term was used.

Jackson's first inaugural celebration joins several other celebrations in America's first century that have a place in history. American schoolchildren learn that George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall in New York long before Washington's designated capital existed. Many people remember portions of Abraham Lincoln's first or second inaugural address, which were delivered from a stage erected on the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol. Lincoln seemed to postpone the Civil War with phrases like "the mystical chords of memory" and "the better angels of our nature"; then in his second inaugural address he sought to "bind the nation's wounds" and "show mercy to all , with no ill will toward anyone.”

Dramatic addresses and developments

Few speeches rival the tragic story of William Henry Harrison.

"Tipekanoe" Harrison was elected as the ninth president of the United States in 1840, but encountered unusually severe weather on Inauguration Day. Although he was seriously ill, he persevered, took off his hat and clothes, gave a long speech, went home to sleep, and died a few weeks later.

But most inauguration days are far more auspicious than Harrison's, and some mark turning points in the nation's sense of self. More than just rituals, they predicted much of what the new presidency would mean.

The 20th-century template was Franklin D. Roosevelt's first oath of office in 1933. Last summer, he promised the American people a "New Deal" in his campaign speeches. But it was on the day of his first inauguration that he broadcast this motto: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Over the past four years, the national economy has fallen into what is known as the Great Recession. Roosevelt, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in a landslide and received supermajorities in both houses of Congress—a boast for a man who had never been elected outside New York before. , but these phrases would define the president’s ethos. era.

In recent decades, a two-term president's second inauguration may actually be more worthy of celebration than his first. George W. Bush, who served as the Republican governor of Texas, lost the popular vote in 2000 to Democratic Vice President Al Gore. But Bush narrowly won the Electoral College after the Supreme Court canceled a week-long Florida recount, effectively awarding Florida's electoral votes to him. Bush was declared the winner in Florida with 537 votes out of 5.8 million cast. As Inauguration Day arrives, much of the country is still reeling from the events in Florida and the courthouse.

As a result, at least in part, of this and the high court's 5-4 decision, Bush's first inauguration in January 2001 sparked an unusually large number of public protesters. But four years later, the atmosphere became more restrained after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, pushed the president's approval ratings to record highs and propelled him to victory in the popular vote and Electoral College. Bush and first lady Laura Bush got out of a bulletproof limousine and walked part of the route as an unusually large number of law enforcement officers and National Guard troops worked the parade route in the afternoon in anticipation of protests.

Testing and updating traditions

This was a move introduced in the modern era by 39th President Jimmy Carter, who wanted to avoid limousines and instead walk from the Capitol to the White House at least most of the time. In 1977, he and his wife, Rosalyn, did just that, a story that was often retold at Carter's funeral and other commemorations earlier this month. Carter died on December 29 at the age of 100.

Another president who continued the tradition of taking a walk was Bill Clinton, who did so in 1993 when he celebrated his first Inauguration Day. Clinton also reinstated the inclusion of inaugural poetry, inviting Maya Angelou to present her piece "Pulse of the Morning." Kennedy initiated the feature in 1961 by inviting Robert Frost to read it. In 2021, Joe Biden refreshed memories by asking 22-year-old Amanda Gorman to read from her "The Hill We Climb."

Another tradition that's sure to be discussed in this year's observations is raising private funds to pay for Inauguration Day activities beyond the basic swearing-in. These include balls sponsored by the president-elect's inaugural committee as well as state and other agencies. In 1981, when the Reagan Commission reportedly raised $19 million, the debate over the influence that donors might gain through such involvement reached a new high.

This year's committee, led by millions of dollars in donations from tech giants Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, is expected to raise $200 million. The three will attend the inauguration ceremony on Monday.