Washington was inaugurated on April 20th. Jefferson and those after were sworn in on March 4, the anniversary of the day that the US Constitution took effect. But the 20th amendment set that date to January 20th starting in 1937.
We based the limit on presidential terms on Washingtons precedent of two terms, so why not do the same with innaguartions, base it on Washington. Or why not leave the date at March 4th, which seemed like a fine day.
What was the motivation or reasoning for making the date a typically cold day, January 20th?
Thanks everyone! I've been scratching my head on this one and the sources ive been able to find just list dates, not really motivations.
-Matt
Because having 5 months of a lame duck president was seen as unnecessarily long. Especially if the outgoing President was unwilling to be cooperative or communicative.
In particular Buchanan did virtually nothing in the months following Lincoln's election while the South began to move towards secession and seizure of federal property. While the transition period between Hoover and FDR that immediately led to the Amendment came at the height of the Great Depression and months without clear leadership or decisive action was not seen as in the best interests of the nation.
This piece goes into some more depth about it. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/inaugurationconstit.html
Along with these exerts from the Senate Judiciary Committee about the reasons for moving up the date. Namely that advances in infrastructure have rendered the need for extra travel and communication time moot. https://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt20_user.html#amdt20_hd4