An official parade that included a cavalry unit from Georgetown was organized to escort Madison to the Capitol. Inaugural parades continued to be spontaneous, unplanned events until the inauguration of James Madison in 1809. The Marine Band also joined the parade and played patriotic music as they marched. Following his second inaugural ceremony in 1805, Jefferson rode from the Capitol to the White House on horseback and was accompanied by several hundred well wishers that included mechanics from the nearby navy yard, Congressmen, and diplomats. After swearing the oath and delivering his inaugural address, Jefferson walked back to his hotel and ate dinner. He therefore chose to walk with a few friends from his hotel to the Capitol. Spontaneous Parades Make Way for Officially Planned ProcessionsĪlthough Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new capital of Washington, D.C., he preferred a more subdued atmosphere for his ceremony than the pageantry and splendor of Washington’s inauguration. In subsequent years impromptu parades of supporters also escorted John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to their inaugurations. The admiring crowds swarmed Washington a third time after he finished his inaugural address and accompanied him as he walked to a prayer service at St. Members of the Continental Army, legislators, political leaders, and ordinary American citizens who were gathered in New York for the inauguration on April 30, 1789, also joined Washington’s “parade” as he left in a carriage from the home of Governor George Clinton, where he had stayed, to the steps of Federal Hall for the ceremony. Loyal members of local militias joined Washington’s procession to New York in increasing numbers as if they were following an irresistible piper. Throngs of enthusiastic crowds cheered Washington along the many miles of his journey and treated him like royalty, crowning him with laurel wreaths, hosting banquets in his honor, and saluting him with cannon fire. Upon learning that his election as president was official, George Washington traveled leisurely over a period of seven days from his home at Mount Vernon to the country’s temporary capital in New York City, riding on horseback through Alexandria, Georgetown, Washington, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. President Washington Parades to the First Inauguration
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