The inauguration of a president has always been an important symbol in the U.S. democracy. This reflects the peaceful transfer of power. On January 20th, 2017, Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States of America. He will have to unite the nation with him. However, uniting the nation might be a difficult task due to the deep social divisions. The inauguration is a moment for the people to welcome the new President and these first weeks of power allow the new President to show that change is happening.
To begin with, the presidential inauguration takes place every four year in January. The Constitution does not talk about the need for a presidential inauguration. The inauguration simply formalizes the day which the winning presidential candidate becomes the head of the United States. By convention, the President pledges his or her allegiance to the U.S. Constitution during inauguration day. Hence, the U.S. Supreme Law reveals that: “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."[2].” Therefore, the inauguration is organized in order to allow the President Elect to take an oath of allegiance. Traditionally, the Supreme Court Chief Justice administers the oath of office, but technically any Judge could administer the presidential oath. For instance, Federal Justice Sara Hughes administered the oath to President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963. Besides, the President must repeat the exact words of the oath in order to become Commander-in-Chief and Head of State because these words are written in the U.S. Constitution.
More to the point, this is a tradition for every new President to make a speech after being sworn in. For that reason, Trump made an address telling the nation about the new vision advocated by his administration and what main economic and social goals to prioritize. President Trump emphasized in his inaugural address about the need to put America first. America needs to protect jobs and restore the American dream. Besides, America needs to fight crime and secure the border. The U.S. needs to invest in infrastructure and rebuild the country with American labour. President Trump wants to create new alliances with the rest of the Word. Donald Trump does not want to be seen as a politician; he wants to be a man seeking action in order to help America face upcoming challenges. Additionally, Trump said: “America will start winning again… We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams.” As a result, Trump told the nation his administration will create new job opportunities, provide better immigration control, and get better free trade deals.
Finally, the purpose of the inauguration is to tell Americans who is the new president and commander-in-chief. Moreover, just after being sworn in, President Trump signed several executive orders to make several major changes on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), build the U.S. Mexican border wall, anti-abortion policy, etc. Therefore, President Trump already started to implement his conservative agenda. Nevertheless, Trump administration is not seen as a good thing by Mexico. The British Prime Minister visited the White House just a few days after Trump`s inauguration. Besides, Japanese and Canadian Prime Ministers met the new President in February and they expect strengthening international relations with the United States.
February 12, 2017