Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan
The second inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States was held in a small televised ceremony on Sunday, January 20, 1985, at the Grand Foyer of the White House, and was to be repeated the following day, January 21, 1985 at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., before being moved to the Capitol's rotunda. This was the 50th inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final four-year term of both Ronald Reagan as President and of George H. W. Bush as Vice President. At 73 years, 349 days of age on Inauguration Day, Reagan was the oldest U.S. president to date to be sworn in.Inauguration day
As the weather outside was harsh, with daytime temperatures of and wind chills of, the event organizers were forced to move the public inaugural ceremony, which had been planned for the open air, inside to the Capitol Rotunda. There, as they had the day before officially, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the presidential oath of office to Reagan, and former Associate Justice Potter Stewart administered the vice-presidential oath to Bush. Jessye Norman sang Simple Gifts from Aaron Copland's Old American Songs at the ceremony.
Due to the inclement weather, the parade was canceled a replacement event was put on in the Capitol Center sports arena. 96 people attended the first ceremony and thousands on the second.Inauguration committee
Former UPI correspondent John Chambers, son of Whittaker Chambers, served as executive director of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Presidential Inauguration, for Reagan's second inauguration and again in 1993 first inauguration of Bill Clinton.
