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:
“All night I’ve held your hand,
as if you had
a fourth time faced the kingdom of the mad—
its hackneyed speech, its homicidal eye—
and dragged me home alive. . . .”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
“At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“Friendship among nations, as among individuals, calls for constructive efforts to muster the forces of humanity in order that an atmosphere of close understanding and cooperation may be cultivated.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)