Do You Know What Today Is?

Today is March 4th and unless it’s your birthday, or the birthday of someone you love, it’s likely you’re treating this as if it is any ole’ Tuesday.  

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A day that most likely has no real significance to a good portion of the American population. But that wasn’t always the case.  

I really enjoy history. Especially learning about the “why” we do certain things, or how things became the “normal” that we operate under these days.  

Did you know that today is a holiday? Well, at least it used to be. Today is the day that Americans used to see their president sworn in to office.  

According to the website Nationaltoday.com, March 4th is affectionately known as Old Inauguration Day. Every presidential term until 1937 started in March, and not January.  

The 12th Amendment is what changed the date, and there were several reasons for the change. First, to give the President time for he and his family to move to Washington D.C. from wherever they were living. 

Secondly, so that the incoming Congress and not those on their way out of D.C. would hold the contingency election if the electoral college were to finish in a deadlock. The ending and beginning dates for elected members of the Congress are to take place on January 3rd. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first U.S. President to be sworn in on the date from the 12th Amendment, January 20th.  

A lot has changed in Washington D.C. since 1937, but there are some things that are in place for a particular reason, such as the 12th Amendment.  

Maybe the real question should be not why they moved the Inauguration Day, but why we don’t have Old Inauguration Day sales?