Monday, January 19, 2009

Inauguration Day

I was wondering why Inauguration Day happens on the day it does. So, I looked it up and thought I would share it. Back in the day, it took a long time to collect all the election ballots from each state, and to count who actually won the election. I mean, seriously, could you imagine waiting months to hear who the next president would be? Before the telephone, before the telegraph even, we depended on word of mouth by the good old horse and buggy distribution. It ain't no FedEx. Because of this long period, Inauguration Day was on March 4th. But due to the ratification of the 20th Amendment in 1933, which mandates the actual term length of the presidency, it has since been moved to January 20th at Noon of each year. Communication and transportation had obviously improved, which enabled the process of counting the ballots quicker, and getting the information back to the public more efficient. So, if you too were wondering, there ya go. 

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