Trump says he’ll join short list of presidents who skipped successor’s inauguration
President Donald Trump said Friday he won’t attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, joining the few presidents to skip out on his successor’s inauguration.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump tweeted Friday.
President-elect Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 7 by The Associated Press and other major media outlets. Congress affirmed Biden’s Electoral College victory on Thursday and he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office at noon on Jan. 20.
The news came as Democrats say they’re eyeing a vote to impeach Trump as early as “mid-next week.” Lawmakers from both parties blamed the president’s rhetoric for the violence on Wednesday when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building following the president’s remarks at a “Save America Rally.”
Trump conceded his loss two months after the election through a video statement Thursday but made no mention of Biden. Trump said he’s ready to “get on with the business of America” and advocated for an “orderly and seamless” transition.
Trump’s absence from his successor’s swearing in will be just a few in U.S. history. Here’s a look at who else did it.
Richard Nixon (1974)
Former President Richard Nixon had already left the White House when his successor Gerald Ford was sworn in.
Nixon, the only U.S. president to resign, informed then-Vice President Gerald Ford on Aug. 8 he planned to resign and that Ford would take office the next day.
At 9:30 a.m. Aug. 9, Nixon and his family entered the East Room of the White House where Nixon delivered his final address as president, during which he said “we leave with high hopes, in good spirits and with deep humility, and with very much gratefulness in our hearts,” per History.com
He then left the White House and boarded the presidential helicopter.
By the time Air Force One landed in California, Ford had been sworn in and Nixon was “an ordinary citizen,” History.com says.
Andrew Johnson (1869)
The 17th president refused to attend Ulysses S. Grant’s March 4 inauguration at the U.S. Capitol.
Instead, Johnson stayed at the White House to sign “last minute legislation,” according to the Library of Congress.
Grant and Johnson were nemeses, and Grant had previously said he would not ride in a carriage to the Capitol with Johnson, according to CNN. Johnson was also reportedly angry about his impeachment, according to NBC News.
Johnson, the first president to be impeached, was sworn into office in 1865 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. But his party declined to nominate him for the 1868 election.
John Quincy Adams (1829)
It’s unclear why John Quincy Adams, the country’s sixth president, didn’t attend the inauguration of his successor, Andrew Jackson.
Adams didn’t invite Jackson to the White House when he arrived in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, according to The White House Historical Association. Jackson also didn’t “call on” Adams.
Adams officially left the White House on March 3, the day before Jackson was sworn in, the association says.
Jackson and Adams first ran against each other in 1824. Jackson won more popular and electoral votes, but since no candidates received a majority as required, the U.S. House of Representatives selected the president, according to the White House archives.
When it selected Adams, Jackson and his allies claimed it was a “corrupt bargain,” and he vowed to run again four years later. He kept his promise and defeated Adams in 1868.
John Adams (1801)
Like his son, John Adams did not attend successor Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration.
He left the White House at 4 a.m. the day of Jefferson’s swearing-in ceremony, according to The White House Historical Association.
It marked the first time in history the presidency was handed over to the opposing party, and Adams may have wanted to avoid stirring the pot between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, the association says.
Some speculate that Adams may have wanted to avoid imposing as Jefferson never formally invited him.
Adams did not, however, record his reasoning for skipping the ceremony, according to the association.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 8:06 AM with the headline "Trump says he’ll join short list of presidents who skipped successor’s inauguration."
