Television & The Presidential Inaugurations…Part 1

President Harry Truman’s January 20,1949 inauguration was the first to be televised to the 2,000,000 sets in use in the US, but television did not reach the west coast until Truman’s 1952 speech from San Francisco was telecast.

In the photo, the raised platform is for the radio reporters, newsreel cameras, and two pool TV cameras, with at least one more live camera in use on the ground, and perhaps more. I think this was the only televised part of the day, with no live TV coverage attempted on the parade portion.

At the link is a rare kinescope recording of Truman’s Inaugural Address. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytbJo_bmxA

Here are some mass media firsts associated with covering the inaugurations over the centuries.

First ceremony to be reported by telegraph: James Polk, 1845.
First ceremony to be photographed: James Buchanan, 1857.
First motion picture of ceremony: William McKinley, 1897.
First electronically-amplified speech: Warren Harding, 1921.
First radio broadcast: Calvin Coolidge, 1925.
First recorded on talking newsreel: Herbert Hoover, 1929.
First television coverage: Harry Truman, 1949.
First live Internet broadcast: Bill Clinton, 1997.

Here is the first inauguration to ever be captured on motion picture film. It is that of Willam McKinley on March 4, 1897.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO_aOe_FM2Q

In 1937, Franklin Roosevelt took the oath of the Presidency for the second time, but for the first time on January 20th. The 20th Amendment changed the date from March 4 to January 20 when it was ratified in 1933.

More on soon! -Bobby Ellerbee

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