Swearing-In Ceremony for President Richard M. Nixon
Forty-Seventh Inaugural Ceremonies, January 20, 1973
Program
Invocation
The Reverend E.V. Hill
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Rev. E.V. Hill delivering the Inaugural prayer invocation at the January 20, 1973 Inaugural Ceremonies.
Prayer
Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakavos
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakavos delivering a prayer invocation during President Nixon’s inauguration on January 20, 1973.
Vice Presidential Oath of Office
- Administered to Spiro T. Agnew (Resigned October 10, 1973)
- Administered to Gerald R. Ford (Appointed October 12, 1973)
Presidential Oath of Office
Administered to Richard M. Nixon by the Honorable Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Architect of the Capitol
Architect of the Capitol
- Bible Used: Two brown leather family Bibles, open to Isaiah 2:2-4 (same Bibles used at his 1969 Inauguration)
- Attire: Club jacket, striped trousers, and four-in-hand tie
Inaugural Address
‘When we met here four years ago, America was bleak in spirit, depressed by the prospect of seemingly endless war abroad and of destructive conflict at home.’
Read the address
(Words: 1668)
Benediction
Cardinal Terence James Cooke
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Cardinal Terence James Cooke delivering the Roman Catholic Prayer benediction at the 1973 Inaugural Ceremonies.
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Location
East Portico,
U.S. Capitol
Washington, DCWeather
Cloudy and windy, with a noon temperature of 42°F.
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Facts, Firsts & Precedents
Richard Nixon became the first President to resign on August 9, 1974.
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Inaugural Committee
- Sen. Howard W. Cannon (D-NV), Chair
- Sen. Marlow W. Cook (R-KY)
- Sen. Michael J. Mansfield (D-MT)
- Rep. Carl B. Albert (D-OK)
- Rep. Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. (D-MA)
- Rep. Gerald R. Ford (R-MI)
Video
U.S. Senate Recording Studio
The election of 1972 consolidated the gains that the President had made with the electorate in 1968. Although the Democratic Party maintained majorities in the Congress, the presidential ambitions of South Dakota Senator George McGovern were unsuccessful. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger on a pavilion erected on the East Front of the Capitol.