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INAUGURAL ABSENCES, PART I

© John S. Cooper

Everyone is familiar with the pomp and ceremony of a presidential inauguration. The procedures and traditions involved are well known. One of the seemingly insignificant traditions that signifies the transfer of power involves the two presidents, incoming and outgoing. Upon arrival at the site of the inauguration, the outgoing president, still the president for several more minutes, is the first to proceed down the aisle, according to his rank, and take his place. He is followed by the president-elect who is about to take the oath of office. After the ceremony is completed, the new president leads the procession leaving the stands, followed by the now-former president.

But this has not always been the case. In fact, several presidents have refused to attend the inauguration of their successor. Two left town the night before the inauguration, and one sat in the White House until noon, and then left town.

The first absent president was John Adams, our second president. He was defeated by Thomas Jefferson in a close race in 1801. It had been a very bitter campaign, in which the followers of both men hurled outrageous accusations at the opposing candidate. Adams and Jefferson had been very close politically and personally for many years. They had served in the Continental Congress together, where Adams had been the chairman of the committee to write the Declaration of Independence and appointed Jefferson to write the draft of the document for which he became famous. The outcome of the election was not decided until South Carolina cast its electoral votes in December 1800. President John Adams took his defeat very hard. Also in December, he had learned of the death of his son, Charles in New York.

Shortly after the election, but before the inauguration, President John Adams and President-elect Thomas Jefferson had an awkward meeting during a levee at the White House. According to witnesses, President Adams snapped at Jefferson, “You have put me out! You have put me out!” Jefferson then reminded Adams that it was the electoral system created by Adams Federalist supporters, and not Jefferson or his supporters, that had ended Adams’ administration. Adams calmed down, and their next meeting, on the streets of Washington, went much better.

The night before the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, the lights burned late in the White House. President Adams’ belongings were packed into several wagons, and at four in the morning, President and Mrs. Adams boarded their coach and left the city. President Adams, taking his defeat personally, could not bring himself to attend the festivities attached to his defeat. Some historians have put forth the notion that the long and difficult journey back to Massachusetts required the early start. However, that early start could have been made a day earlier, if it was indeed necessary at all. Adams had escaped the hot summers of Washington by staying at his home in Massachusetts, as was the custom of most of the early presidents, and had never felt the need to start the trip to New England at such an early hour.

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