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Home > History > Chronology > President Ronald W. Reagan, 1985

President Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1985

Vice President George H. W. Bush
Inauguration Date   Sunday, January 20, 1985 and Monday, January 21, 1985
Location   January 20: North Hall, White House
January 21: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Oath Administered By:   Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice
Bible Used:   Family Bible, given to him by his mother, open to II Chronicles 7:14. (Same Bible used at his 1981 Inauguration)
Length of Inaugural Address:   2,564 words
Attire (what the president wore):   Business suit
Weather:   It was sunny, but bitter cold. Wind chill temperatures fell into the -10°F to -20°F range in the afternoon. Estimated noon temperature of 7°F.
Precedents, "firsts" or other interesting information:  

Because January 20, 1985 fell on a Sunday, the public Inauguration ceremony was scheduled for Monday, January 21, 1985. Reagan was sworn in privately on January 20. Owing to record cold temperatures on January 21, 1985, however, the public Inauguration ceremony was moved indoors to the Rotunda, and became a semiprivate ceremony.

Reagan's second Inauguration was the coldest on record. (His first in 1981 was the warmest.)

 

 

President Reagan taking the oath of office in the Senate Rotunda, January 21, 1985 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California)

President Reagan taking the oath of office in the Senate Rotunda, January 21, 1985 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California)

image of vintage television setWatch the Inaugural video.

 

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