The 2025 presidential inauguration of Donald Trump has set a new chapter in history marked by a series of historic milestones.
Trump, taking the oath of office as the 47th president, became the first leader since the first Democrat elected after the Civil War in 1885, the 22nd and 24th President, Grover Cleveland, to serve non-consecutive terms.
Trump, who previously held office from 2017 until 2021, returns to office, representing a rare occurrence in U.S. history. The last time this was accomplished was over 130 years ago.
Aside from this, the inauguration coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. Day is another first.
The president wore a purple tie that featured a checkered pattern of red and blue. The tie selection is a potential nod to unity, blending the traditional colors of both political parties and marking a departure from the solid red tie worn at his first inauguration in 2017.
At 78 years old, Trump also became the oldest president inaugurated, surpassing the record set by Joe Biden in 2021.
John F. Kennedy was the youngest president at the time of his presidency, with the shortest lifespan in presidential history.
The ceremony itself has made history by moving indoors to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, due to the weather, marking the first indoor inauguration since Ronald Reagan’s second-term ceremony in 1985.
Historically, a foreign leader has never attended a transfer-of-power ceremony, though several foreign leaders were in attendance Monday, breaking the traditional protocol and marking another historical moment for the returning president.
The heightened security surrounding the inauguration also marked a historical first, as over 25,000 law enforcement officers and national guard personnel were deployed to secure the event.
Vice President-elect JD Vance was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, marking a personal connection. Usha Vance, wife to the newly sworn vice president, spent a year clerking for Kavanaugh when he served as the appeals court judge in Washington, D.C.
