Inauguration of Zachary Taylor

The inauguration of Zachary Taylor as the 12th president of the United States took place on Monday, March 5, 1849, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. This event was special because it was the second time an inauguration was moved because March 4 fell on a Sunday, the Christian sabbath. It was the 16th regular inauguration and began the only four-year term for both Zachary Taylor as president and Millard Fillmore as vice president.

Zachary Taylor passed away about a year and four months after becoming president, and Millard Fillmore then became the new president. The presidential oath of office was given by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. On the day of the inauguration, the weather started off cloudy with a few snowflakes, but it turned into heavy snow during the celebration balls later that evening.

Inaugural festivities

Three celebration dances happened later that day. To make space for many guests at one of the dances, a temporary wooden building was built in the Judiciary Square plaza. Tickets for the event cost $10 in cash. The food served included terrapins, Charlotte Russe, oysters, and Roman punch.

The "presidency" of David Rice Atchison

Zachary Taylor's term as president officially began on Sunday, March 4, 1849, but his inauguration ceremony was held the next day, Monday, March 5, because some people believed it was not appropriate to have such an event on a Sunday. Because of this delay, some friends and colleagues of Senator David Atchison said that from March 4 to March 5, Atchison was the acting president of the United States. They believed that since both President James K. Polk and Vice President George Dallas had left their jobs at noon on March 4, and Taylor and Fillmore had not yet taken their oaths, the positions were empty. They thought Atchison, as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate, should be acting president during this time according to an old law. However, historians and experts do not agree with this idea.