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Agence France-Presse

Outgoing US President Donald Trump will be far from the first to boycott his successor Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday – but his absence will be the first since 1869.
In fact, many past inaugurations were conducted in a febrile atmosphere, with some turning to high drama:
The boycotters
In 1801 the second US president John Adams snubbed his successor Thomas Jefferson, leaving the White House at dawn after calling his former vice-president as “a mean-spirited, low-lived son of a half-breed Indian squaw”.
His son John Quincy Adams won a disputed election in 1824 against Andrew Jackson, who claimed the vote had been stolen.
Four years later Jackson turned the tables after an even more contentious campaign.
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Like father, Adams junior was a bad loser and left the White House the night before the inauguration.
Jackson, who brought his slaves to Washington with him, is a hero of Trump’s. His portrait hangs by his desk in the Oval Office.
In 1841 the Democrat Martin Van Buren was a no-show at the inauguration of William H. Harrison, who caught pneumonia and died after giving the longest-ever inaugural speech in wet, cold weather without a hat, coat and gloves.
Andrew Johnson was the last boycotter in 1869.
He refused to go after his successor Ulysses Grant snubbed his offer to share a carriage to the Capitol.

Lincoln’s near miss
Abraham Lincoln gave a group of assassins waiting to kill him the slip on the way to his inauguration on March 4, 1865, only to find himself in the sights of the man who would eventually kill him when he got to Washington.
Actor John Wilkes Booth – who would shoot Abraham Lincoln 41 days later at a theatre in the capital – found himself standing above the president on the steps of the Capitol as he was sworn in for his second term.
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Booth and his fellow Confederate plotters had previously tried to kidnap Lincoln.
With the American Civil War still raging, Booth said he regretted not having a gun at the inauguration as he had an “excellent chance … to kill the president if I had wished.”

Kennedy on fire
There was also a premonition of the tragedy to come at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in January 1961.
Tensions were also high as he was the first Catholic to be elected president, a major historic shift in a then deeply Protestant country.
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A fire on the podium led secret service agents to rush in fearing an assassination attempt.
Kennedy, who kept his cool, smiling and continuing his now legendary inauguration speech, was assassinated two years later.

Johnson sworn in on plane
Several hours after his death in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, Kennedy’s vice-president Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One, parked on the tarmac of the city’s airport.
The cold
The fatal Harrison speech of 1841 was not the only time the winter weather has played havoc with inaugurations.
Ronald Reagan’s second in 1985 had to be held indoors in the White House with temperatures falling to minus 14 degrees Celsius (7 Fahrenheit).
But it was positively springlike in 1953 when Dwight Eisenhower was lassoed by Hollywood cowboy Montie Montana during his lighthearted parade.

Two oaths for Obama
Barack Obama, the first black president, had to take his oath twice after a glitch at his 2009 ceremony.
Supreme Court chief John Roberts muddled the wording so he had to be sworn in again the next day in the White House.
Herbert Hoover had the same problem in 1929.
Memorable quotes
Inauguration speeches have contained some of the most famous lines in American history.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” intoned Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 4, 1933 with the US mired in the Depression.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” declared Kennedy, the youngest ever elected president.
“American carnage stops right here,” Trump promised at his inauguration in 2017, only to instigate the storming of the Capitol in the dying days of his term.
After Trump’s dark and divisive speech, former president George W. Bush turned to the defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and said: “That was some weird sh**.”


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US President Donald Trump will be skipping Joe Biden’s inauguration. File photo: AFP

This official White House photograph shows US President Barack Obama (R) retaking the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts (L) January 21, 2009 in the Map Room of the White House in Washington, DC. In the highly unusual move, President Obama retook the oath of office after Chief Justice Roberts led him into a stumble when he was originally sworn in to become the 44th US president one day earlier. AFP PHOTO / THE WHITE HOUSE / Pete SOUZA

FILE _ U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivers his inaugural address after taking the oath of office at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in this Jan. 20, 1961 file photo. The 14-minute inaugural's Cold War-era content, shaped by a World War II veteran for a country on the brink of cultural upheaval, is certainly outdated. Were it uttered by a modern politician, Kennedy's famous "ask not" call to service might well be derided as a socialist pitch for more government. "Unfortunately, in today's environment, speeches are more likely to say, "Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you can do for your party," says Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to both Republicans and Democrats who recently helped establish the nonpartisan organization No Labels. (AP Photo, File)

(FILES): This February 9, 1864 photograph obtained June 6, 2012 courtesy of the Library of Congress shows the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. A report by the first doctor to attend to Lincoln, Dr. Charles Leale, lost for the past 147 years, was discovered in late May 2012 at the National Archives in Washington, DC, according to US media reports. Lincoln was shot on the night of April 14, 1865 by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO / LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / Anthony BERGER == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / ANTHONY BERGER" / NO SALES / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (C) takes the presidential oath of office from Judge Sarah T. Hughes (2nd from L) as President John F. Kennedy's widow first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (2nd from R) stands at his side aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas just two hours after Kennedy was shot in this November 22, 1963 photo. JFK Library/Cecil Stoughton/The White House/File Photo via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

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Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol on January 6. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. Samuel Corum/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Samuel Corum / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

TOPSHOT - US President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on January 7, 2021, to announce key nominees for the Justice Department as US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris(L) listens. - US President-elect Joe Biden called the US Capitol protests one of 'darkest days' in US history. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP)

The dome of the U.S. Capitol building is visible through razor wire installed on top of fencing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Joe Biden will take the oath of office as president on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he boards Air Force One at Valley International Airport after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in Harlingen, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Virginia National Guard soldiers are issued their M4 rifles and live ammunition on the east front of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021 in Washington, D.C. After last week's riots at the U.S. Capitol Building, the FBI has warned of additional threats in the nation's capital and in all 50 states. According to reports, as many as 25,000 National Guard soldiers will be guarding the city as preparations are made for the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. President. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/TNS)

epa08944915 The US Capitol is seen ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration from the National Mall in Washington, DC, USA, 17 January 2021. Biden will be sworn-in as the 46th president on 20 January. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

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The bulk of National Guard soldiers in Washington will be armed. Photo: AFP

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden arrives to introduce key members of his White House science team at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., January 16, 2021 REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

epa08944912 The US Capitol is seen ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration from the National Mall in Washington, DC, USA, 17 January 2021. Biden will be sworn-in as the 46th president on 20 January. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

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Presidential bad blood goes back a long way in America
Here’s a recap of some high drama from past inaugurations



Donald Trump will be far from the first to boycott his successor’s inauguration – but his absence will be the first since 1869.


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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Presidential bad blood goes back a long way in America Here’s a recap of some high drama from past inaugurations

Presidential bad blood goes back a long way in America

Here’s a recap of some high drama from past inaugurations