Inaugural Traditions are Remembered and Explored in the 75th Issue of White House History Quarterly

Nov 19, 2024 Washington, D.C. —

The White House Historical Association has released the 75th issue of its award-winning magazine White House History Quarterly: "Inaugural Traditions."

“Whether shattered or observed, traditions make history each Inauguration Day. Every decision a president makes on this transformational day—every hat and coat, every time and place, every oath and address, every Oval Office furnishing, every greeting or good-bye, and nearly every footstep taken—will be documented, analyzed, and incorporated into presidential history. With this issue of White House History Quarterly, as Inauguration Day 2025 approaches, we take a look at the decisions that make and break traditions.”—Marcia Anderson, Editor White House History Quarterly

Features in this issue include:

• INAUGURATION DAY BEGINS – Former White House Correspondent Ann Compton opens the issue with a look at how the day begins. She recounts her memories of cold morning vigils as a young reporter, stationed on the sidewalk at the entrance to Blair House, The President’s Guest House, waiting for the president-elect to emerge and begin the day that leads to life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

• THE EVOLUTION OF THE WHERE AND WHEN OF PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS – The “swearing-in ceremonies that have launched presidents into four-year terms and . . . in which vice presidents have succeeded deceased or resigned presidents have transpired in a variety of settings, circumstances, and dates,” explains author Jonathan L. Stolz, who recounts the evolution of the time and place of the Inauguration ceremony.

• ORGANIZED CHAOS A White House Chief Usher Remembers Moving Days at the White House – During the few hours that the nation’s attention is focused on the ceremony and parade, a major undertaking is in progress behind the scenes back at the White House. Former Chief Usher Gary Walters shares his memories of the rush to simultaneously move one first family out, and another in, a process he calls “organized chaos.” “Don’t panic” was number one on the list of “Five Rules of Inauguration” that Walters created for the Residence staff.

• A BREAK WITH TRADITION Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Backyard” Inauguration – Despite long-followed traditions, presidents do sometimes choose to break with them. Mary Jo Binker explains why President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the setting of his fourth Oath of Office. She takes us back to 1945 to witness FDR’s “backyard” Inauguration and the austere White House receptions that followed.

• PERFORMING IN JOHN F. KENNEDY’S INAUGURAL PARADE A High School Clarinetist Remembers – For the awe-struck members of the Lebanon High School Band, from the smallest city in New Hampshire, performing in President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Parade created memories that would last a lifetime, recalls Mark Ramsdell. Later a longtime assistant to White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Ramsdell shares the excitement and wonder he experienced with his classmates on their first trip to Washington, D.C., and their first glimpse of a president.

• BROOKS BROTHERS TRADITIONS and the Presidential Wardrobe –Rebecca Durgin Kerr explains that ever since George Washington chose to signal his patriotism by wearing a suit of an American manufacture, presidents have made strategic choices about their inaugural wardrobe.

• “SO HELP ME GOD”: The Beginnings of an Inaugural Tradition – Many—but not all—presidents have chosen to conclude the Oath of Office with “So help me God.” Richard Gardiner studies eyewitness accounts to trace the origins of the practice.

• FROM THE ARCHIVES Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981 – The Inaugural Address is traditionally delivered by the newly inaugurated president just after taking the Oath of Office. Author Alison Isko goes into the archives of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to study the text of President Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural speech, delivered January 20, 1981.

• PRESIDENTIAL SITES FEATURE Pennsylvania Avenue: The Road to the White House – For our Presidential Site feature, Jennifer Wojeck focuses on Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Whether the newly inaugurated presidents traveled it on foot, on horseback, by carriage, or in a motorcade, the avenue has witnessed more than two hundred years of inaugural tradition.

This 116-page issue of White House History Quarterly retails for $12.95. To purchase a single issue, visit shop.whitehousehistory.org.

More about the 75^th Issue Milestone of White House History Quarterly:

White House History Quarterly is published by the White House Historical Association, and its aim has always been to fulfill the wish of the association’s founder, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, that the house that belongs to the American people be known to them so it can be cherished by them. The Association takes as its mission “to enhance understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the historic White House,” and its quarterly magazine advances that mission by publishing articles on the history and architecture of the White House and life as lived there through the years. Since its first issue in 1983, the periodical has aimed to be, wrote its founding editor the historian William Seale, a magazine for everyone "with scholarly articles that would not be scholarly in the exclusive sense” but “personal” in their appeal to all Americans.

The effort snowballed. At first the magazine was occasional, then twice yearly, and today it is published four times each year. In a very real sense, the White House History Quarterly created a new field of scholarly endeavor—the investigation of the White House with all its connections to national history, the history of the presidency, of architecture, of horticulture, of fine and decorative arts, of fashion, of dining and entertainment, of social roles, and of families. Early articles examined specific presidencies—two issues on the Kennedy White House, two on the Lincoln White House, one each on the presidencies of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Buchanan, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The purview of the journal soon expanded to include the President’s Neighborhood and presidential journeys, retreats, and time away from the White House. Issues were shaped around themes, telling stories from a particular angle. They focused on music, theater, fashion, art, entertainment, flowers and gardens, kitchens and cooking, and White House weddings. The journal took pride in publishing documents long out of print or not otherwise available: the memoirs of Paul Jennings, enslaved in the James Madison White House, and of Isabella Hagner, social secretary to Edith Roosevelt; an annotated transcription of the Washington journal of Elizabeth L. C. Dixon, wife of a Connecticut congressman during the James K. Polk administration; and photographs of Washington at night, taken in the 1930s, by Volkmar Kurt Wentzel. Some topics are idiosyncratic and just plain fun: Sarah Polk’s dresses, Tad Lincoln’s tutor, Pat Oliphant's cartoons, Mamie Eisenhower’s bangs, and squirrels on the White House Grounds.

Many first-person reflections, many new interpretations, and many recently discovered historic photographs would not have been published were it not for Dr. Seale’s inspiration and guidance, now carried on since his death by editor Marcia Mallet Anderson and a group of distinguished advisers. The magazine has continued to foster Seale’s innovative approach to biography, history, and cultural context, and the field of White House history inspired by the Quarterly has continued to grow.

Marcia Anderson is particularly pleased to have been able to produce two especially timely issues, one to mark the twentieth anniversary of the evacuation of the White House on 9/11, and another to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, which details her historic visits to the White House over the course of her seventy-year reign. Anderson is also especially interested in sharing first-hand accounts from those who experienced the White House by serving on the Residence staff. Among the many memoirs and interviews from these staffers and their descendants included in recent issues are the memories of Irineo Esperancilla, navy steward to Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower; horticulturalist Dale Haney, who has cared for the White House Grounds for more than fifty years; Stewart Stevens who cleaned the White House windows and chandeliers for more than 30 years; Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung who created the official portraits of President and Mrs. Barack Obama; and White House photographer Tina Hager who documented the White House staff at work at the turn of the twenty-first century. One of the most unique perspectives on White House history can be found in an issue devoted to connections between the White House and New York, with an article by Matt Green’s on the rich presidential history encountered as he walked more than 9,000 miles through every block in the city's five boroughs. Regular features include presidential sites amplify the impact the White House and the presidency have had across the nation and the world. Each issue concludes with a column of “Reflections” by Stewart D. McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association.

White House History Quarterly has published the work of more than three hundred authors. They include distinguished historians such as Harold Holzer, James M. Goode, Anita McBride, and Hugh Sidey, and presidential family members such as Caroline Kennedy, Susan Ford, and Barbara Bush. But other authors and subjects are those whose stories could come to light only through this journal: White House gardeners, chefs, butlers, valets, hairstylists, housekeepers, curators, secretaries and social secretaries.

White House History Quarterly has received more than fifty national awards for content and design from such organizations as the American Alliance of Museums, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. It has attracted a loyal readership of both scholars and the general public in the United States and abroad. With its seventy-fifth issue in the fall of 2024, and when the seventy-sixth issue and beyond are published, White House History Quarterly will continue to expand Americans’ understanding and appreciation of the historic White House and its meaning in the American mind and memory.

With editorial offices in Washington, D.C., at the Association's row house facing Lafayette Park across from the White House, White House History Quarterly is published four times each year. One, two, or three-year subscriptions, single copies, and bound collections of back issues are available.

WATCH more about the 75^th Anniversary Issue

To subscribe to White House History Quarterly, visit whitehousehistoryjournal.org.

To request a review copy of White House History Quarterly #75, or interview the contributors, contact press@whha.org.