Inauguration of Franklin Pierce

The inauguration of Franklin Pierce as the 14th president of the United States took place on Friday, March 4, 1853, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. This event was the 17th inauguration and began the only four-year term for both Pierce as president and William R. King as vice president. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney gave Pierce the presidential oath of office. Pierce chose to affirm the oath instead of swearing it, and he was also the first president to speak his inaugural address from memory.

Unfortunately, King was ill with tuberculosis and was in Spanish Cuba trying to get better in a warmer climate. Because of this, he could not be in Washington to take his oath on March 4. With a Special Act from Congress, he was allowed to take the oath outside the United States, and he did so on March 24, 1853. He remains the only vice president to be sworn in while in another country. King passed away just 45 days after becoming vice president, leaving the office empty because there was no rule at the time to replace a vice president during a term. This rule would later be created by the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967.