Counting how many presidents have had 2 inaugurations sounds like a straightforward trivia question you'd hear at a bar. You'd think it's just a matter of checking who served two terms. Easy, right? Well, honestly, it's a bit of a mess once you start digging into the technicalities of American history. If we are talking about presidents who were actually elected twice and stood on a platform to take the oath of office for a second term, the number is 21. But that number shifts if you start looking at the guys who took the oath in private because the official day fell on a Sunday, or the ones who finished a predecessor's term and then had their own "first" inauguration.
Politics is rarely clean. History is even messier.
When people ask how many presidents have had 2 inaugurations, they are usually looking for the heavy hitters—the Washingtons, the Lincolns, and the Roosevelts of the world. But the list also includes people like Grover Cleveland, who had two inaugurations that weren't even back-to-back. He is the only guy to leave the White House, take his furniture with him, and then come back four years later to do the whole ceremony all over again.
The List of Two-Time Swear-ins
Most people realize that George Washington started the trend. He had his first in New York and his second in Philadelphia. After him, the "two-term" tradition became a sort of unwritten rule until FDR smashed it by having four. Since the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951, two has become the hard legal limit.
So, who are the 21? We've got Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, McKinley, Cleveland (non-consecutive), Wilson, FDR (who obviously had more than two), Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama. Then you have the interesting cases like Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson. These four men initially took the oath of office in a hurry—usually in a living room or on an airplane—after a death, and then later had a formal, "official" inauguration after winning an election in their own right.
Technically, those guys had two inaugurations. They swore the oath twice.
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Wait. Let’s look at the Sunday rule. This is where things get nerdy. Back in the day, if March 4th (the old Inauguration Day) fell on a Sunday, the president would often have a tiny, private ceremony on Sunday and then the big public party on Monday. Rutherford B. Hayes actually took the oath in the Red Room of the White House on a Saturday night because March 4th was a Sunday and he didn't want the country to be leaderless for 24 hours. Does that count as two? Most historians say no, it's one "inaugural event," but if you're counting physical times the oath was spoken, the numbers start climbing.
Why Some Inaugurations Don't Actually "Count"
There is a massive difference between being "inaugurated" and just taking the oath. Every president takes the oath. Not every president gets the parade, the balls, and the giant stage at the Capitol.
Take Gerald Ford. He's the only person to serve as both Vice President and President without ever being elected to either office. He had an inauguration of sorts in the East Room when Nixon resigned, but he never had a second one because he lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976. So, even though he was the President, he doesn't make the "two-timer" list.
Then there's the tragedy factor. William McKinley had his second inauguration in March 1901. He was full of hope, talking about American prosperity. Six months later, he was dead from an assassin's bullet. His second inauguration ended up being a prelude to a funeral. Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration is perhaps the most famous in history—the "With malice toward none" speech—but he only lived 41 days after that second ceremony.
The logistics of these events have changed wildly over the centuries. George Washington’s second inauguration featured the shortest inaugural address in history. It was only 135 words. He basically said "thanks" and sat down. Compare that to William Henry Harrison, who gave a nearly two-hour speech in a freezing rainstorm, caught pneumonia, and died a month later. He never even got the chance to think about a second inauguration.
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The Modern Era and the 22nd Amendment
Since the mid-20th century, the cadence of how many presidents have had 2 inaugurations has become more predictable. Because of the 22nd Amendment, we know for a fact that no one (currently) can have more than two, unless they are a VP who steps up.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to feel the "lame duck" effects of the 22nd Amendment during his second term. Since then, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama have all walked the path of the double inauguration. Each of these second ceremonies felt different than the first. The first one is about "Look what we've done, we won!" The second one is usually more somber. It's about legacy. It's about the grind of the next four years.
Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 had to be moved indoors because it was literally too cold to stand outside. It was -4 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -30. They cancelled the parade. They held the ceremony in the Rotunda. Even with the move, it counts as a full-blown second inauguration.
Does the Location Matter?
For a long time, the ceremony stayed in one place. But it’s shifted.
- New York City: Only Washington’s first.
- Philadelphia: Washington’s second and John Adams’.
- Washington D.C.: Every one since 1801.
If you are looking at the data from the Architect of the Capitol, you'll see that the physical location on the Capitol grounds has even changed. Reagan moved the ceremony to the West Front because it could hold more people and offered a better view of the National Mall. Since then, every second inauguration has happened there, overlooking the monuments.
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Correcting the Misconceptions
People often get confused about Vice Presidents who become President. Let's clear that up. Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath on Air Force One in 1963. That was his first. He then had a massive, traditional inauguration in 1965 after winning the 1964 election. That makes him a two-inauguration president.
But what about Franklin D. Roosevelt? He is the statistical outlier that ruins every clean chart. He had four. 1933, 1937, 1941, and 1945. Because of him, we have the rules we have today. If you're counting how many presidents have had at least two, he's on the list. If you're counting exactly two, he's excluded.
The number of presidents who have been sworn in at least twice is higher than the number of presidents who had two formal "Inauguration Days." If you count every time the oath was administered—including those private Sunday ceremonies or the emergency oaths taken after an assassination—the tally for many individuals actually hits three.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're trying to track this for a project or just out of personal interest, don't just look at a list of names. Look at the dates.
- Check the "Sunday" years: Look for 1821, 1849, 1877, 1917, 1957, 1985, and 2013. In these years, the president usually took the oath twice—once privately and once publicly.
- Differentiate between "Elected" and "Inaugurated": Some presidents were elected twice but died before their second inauguration (like Lincoln, who was assassinated shortly after).
- Watch the 22nd Amendment: Use 1951 as the dividing line for when "three or more" became a legal impossibility.
Understanding the count of how many presidents have had 2 inaugurations requires looking past the textbooks. You have to look at the emergency swear-ins, the Sunday morning private sessions, and the unique case of Grover Cleveland. Currently, 21 men have stood for two or more formal inaugural ceremonies, a tradition that remains the gold standard for a "successful" American presidency.
To get the most accurate picture, always cross-reference the White House Historical Association's records with the official Congressional inaugural logs, as they often distinguish between a "ceremonial" inauguration and a "legal" swearing-in.