What do US presidents do after being sworn in?

The billionaire Donald Trump will officially become the 45th president of the United States on January 20 and have an iconic walk home to a new home in Washington.

After the ceremony and luncheon, Trump will take the first steps as president from the Capitol (headquarters of the parliament) to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue.

Following the new president is a parade of military and civilian forces. The president, their vice president, their spouses and special guests will stop at the Presidential Palace (on the north lawn of the White House) to see the parade pass.

This is a tradition that many American presidents have maintained after being sworn in.

After the inauguration at the Capitol, Mr. Trump planned to walk back to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue.(Graphic: Hien Duc).

Parade history

The inaugural parade tradition dates back to the time of George Washington, the first president of the United States with the swearing in ceremony taking place on April 30, 1789 in New York. When he moved from Mount Vernon (the presidential residence) mansion in Virginia to New York, the local military forces joined his group.

When Washington arrived in New York, a member of the Continental Army (combined army of 13 colonies before forming the United States), government officials, parliament members and celebrities continued to escort. He went to the Federal Hall to conduct the inauguration ceremony.

The early inauguration parades consisted mostly of elected presidential escorts to the Capitol. The inauguration ceremony of Thomas Jefferson's first term, 1801, was the first ceremony to take place in Washington.

At that time, only the northern wing of the Capitol was built completely. Jefferson traveled from nearby to the parliament headquarters with a group of people from Alexandria, Virgina, including infantrymen, friends and "compatriots."

The procession parade during President Harrison's inauguration in 1841. (Painting: Wikimedia Commons).

During Mr. Jefferson's second inauguration in 1805, members of parliament and citizens created a parade at the Naval Shipyard in Washington (WNY), including equipment at the yard. They escorted the president from the Capitol to the White House after the inauguration, along with the Navy Band. Since then, this group of musicians participated in every inauguration of the president.

The first organized parade took place in 1809 during President James Madison's inauguration. A cavalry from Georgetown escorted him to the parliament headquarters. After being sworn in, Madison watched 9 parades of soldiers and people.

At the later inauguration ceremonies, the army parades grew more and more. President Henry Harrison's inauguration in 1841 included a parade vehicle and for the first time troops outside Washington. The clubs, political organizations, military bands and student groups also marched in the parade.

The first time

In 1865, during the second inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, African Americans participated in the parade for the first time. Four groups of African American soldiers escorted the president to the Capitol and then went back to the White House after the ceremony.

In 1873, President Grant began the tradition of approving the parade at the White House after the inauguration, shifting the focus of excitement to the aftermath, instead of the escort to the Capitol as before.

In 1881, President James Garfield approved the parade from a special stand erected in front of the White House. Other stands for visitors are also erected on either side of Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1897, President McKinley browsed the parade from the stands with glass covering the outside to fight the cold weather at the time.

Although a blizzard caused the inauguration of President William H. Taft to take place indoors in 1909, the parade proceeded as planned after workers cleared the snow on the route. For the first time, the first lady accompanying her husband led the parade from parliament headquarters to the White House.

President Eisenhower waved to the people in the parade after the inauguration on January 20, 1953.(Photo: National Archive / Newsmakers).

The only parade ever canceled due to bad weather was President Ronald Regan's second inauguration in 1985, when the temperature dropped, making the situation dangerous. The biggest parade was at the inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, with 73 bands, 59 parade cars, horses, elephants and civilian and military vehicles, lasting up to 4 hours. 32 minutes.

Today, parades limit the number of participants to 15,000. Women first joined the march in 1917 at President Wilson's second inauguration. The first televised parade was in 1949 at President Harry S. Truman's inauguration.

In 1921, Warren G. Harding became the first president to ride a car in the parade. Meanwhile, President Jimmy Carter broke the practice in 1977 when he walked from the Capitol to the White House with his wife Rosalynn and daughter Amy.

Today, the parade is organized by the US Capital Region Coalition Force. Participants are selected by the Presidential Inauguration Committee.