Bizarre world of inaugurations

The shortest inauguration speech was delivered by George Washington in 1793 (133 words) and the longest by William H Harrison in 1841 (nearly two hours long and 10,000 words). He delivered the speech without a coat or hat on a bitterly cold day and died a month later from pneumonia while in office.

The great poet Robert Frost, then aged 86, was unable to read the new poem he had written for John Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. He was blinded by the bright sunlight. Instead he recited a poem which he had written years before and, thankfully, had memorised.

Richard Nixon took the oath of office with his hand on two Bibles, while Teddy Roosevelt didn’t put his hand on anything.

Lyndon B Johnson was the only president to take the oath of office from a woman, the Federal District Judge, Sarah Hughes. He was also the only president to be sworn in on an aeroplane, taking office immediately after John Kennedy’s assassination.

The swearing-in ceremony in 1857 was delayed for 20 minutes because officials forgot to pick outgoing President Franklin Pierce up at his hotel and had to go and fetch him.

Dwight Eisenhower’s 1953 parade was covered by a 24-year-old reporter on the Washington Times-Herald as the “Inquiring Camera Girl”. Her name was Jacqueline Bouvier, eventually to become Jackie Kennedy.

Know BAMA

He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
He was known as “O’Bomber” at high school for his skill at basketball
His name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili
He is left-handed – the 6th post-war president to be left-handed
He has read every Harry Potter book
He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali
He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can’t stand ice cream
His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars
He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn’t
He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia
He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck
He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.
His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine
His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees
He enjoys Scrabble and poker
He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal
Daughter Malia’s godmother is Jesse Jackson’s daughter Santita
He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry
He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
He was given the code name “Renegade” by his Secret Service handlers
He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds