The fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the 32nd President of the United States was held on January 20, 1945. The inauguration marked the commencement of the fourth term (which lasted approximately three months) of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President and the only term (which also lasted approximately three months) of Harry S. Truman as Vice President.
Due to the privations caused by the Second World War, the inauguration was held on the South Portico of the White House, rather than the Capitol. The Parades and other festivities were canceled. This was the only time where a "regularly scheduled" inauguration ceremony wasn't either held or repeated the next day at the Capitol. The oath was administered by Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone and the subsequent address was one of the shortest on record.
It was also the last time during the 20th century that one Vice President swore in his successor, which was the tradition up to that time.
Famous quotes containing the words fourth, franklin and/or roosevelt:
“I asked my mother for fifty cents
To see the elephant jump the fence.
He jumped so high he reached the sky,
And didn’t get back till the Fourth of July.”
—Unknown. I Asked My Mother (l. 1–4)
“It was one of the rules which above all others made Doctr. Franklin the most amiable man in society, “never to contradict any body.””
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“All the experts here ... say “There will be no war.” They said the same thing all through July 1914.... In those days I believed the experts. Today I have my tongue in my cheek. This does not mean I am become cynical; but as President I have to be ready just like a Fire Department!”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)