In less than one week, President Barack Obama will be sworn in officially as President of the United States for his second term. He will do it all over again during the 57th Inauguration on January 21, 2013 in front of thousands of people and join a select number of presidents who have had to be sworn in twice in the same year.
The 20th Amendment establishes that a presidential inauguration will fall on January 20th of year following an election year. However, because the 20th lands on a Sunday, Obama will join five other presidents who have held private official swearing-in ceremonies on Sundays and public ceremonial swearing-in ceremonies on Mondays.
Past presidents who have had two swearing-in ceremonies in the same year include Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Monroe, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. According to the Washington Post, Inauguration Day falls on Sunday once every 28 years. It is set to happen again in 2041, 2069, and 2097.
During his private swearing-in on January 20, President Obama will be sworn-in at noon in a ceremony led by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Vice President Biden will also be sworn-in on Sunday, but will do so at the Naval Observatory by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Obama will use the Robinson Family Bible from his wife Michelle Obama's family. Meanwhile, Biden is set to use the Biden Family Bible for both his private and public swearing-in ceremonies.
During the president's public swearing-in ceremony, which will be held on the West Front of the Capitol, Obama will use two different Bibles, one owned by President Lincoln and the other by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thousands of people are expected to attend the events leading up to and the events following the president's public ceremonial swearing-in. However, it is not expected that this year's number will meet those of the 2009 Inauguration.