March 4th is Old Inauguration Day

Anniversary of the date set for beginning the US presidential term of office, 1789–1933. Although the Continental Congress had set the first Wednesday of March 1789 as the date for the new government to convene, a quorum was not present to count the electoral votes until Apr 6. Though George Washington’s term of office began on Mar 4, he did not take the oath of office until Apr 30, 1789. All subsequent presidential terms (except successions following the death of an incumbent), until Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second term, began Mar 4. The 20th Amendment (ratified Jan 23, 1933) provided that “the terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January . . . and the terms of their successors shall then begin.”