Every four years a new president of the United States is elected, and March 4 is the day on which he takes office. On this day a great stand is put up over the steps leading to the central portico of the Capitol, and upon this platform a most imposing ceremony takes place. Here the new president, in the presence of all the members of Congress, the representatives of foreign nations, many distinguished guests, and an immense throng of people, takes upon himself the obligations of his high office. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court holds a Bible before the president, who places his hand upon it and repeats these words: “I do solemnly swear 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.” After the president has delivered his inaugural address, a splendid procession escorts him to his new home, the Executive Mansion.
WHEN PRESIDENT WILSON WAS INAUGURATED
Above the central division of the Capitol building, which for many years served as the entire Capitol, rises the imposing dome from which we have just come. It is crowned with a lantern upon the top of which is placed the statue of Freedom.
Across the western front of the Capitol is a marble terrace overlooking the lower part of the city. Though the western front is ornamented with colonnades of Corinthian columns, it lacks the splendid approaches of the eastern side.
This immense building, representing the dignity and greatness of our nation, is given over almost entirely to the work of lawmaking. In the central part is the large rotunda beneath the lofty dome. The northern wing is occupied by the Senate of the United States, while the southern wing is the home of the House of Representatives. We enter the rotunda by the broad stairs leading from the eastern esplanade and find ourselves in a great circular hall, almost a hundred feet in diameter, whose walls curve upward one hundred and eighty feet. At the top a beautiful canopy shows the Father of his Country in the company of figures representing the thirteen original states. About these are other figures, personifying commerce, freedom, mechanics, agriculture, dominion over the sea, and the arts and sciences. Encircling the upper part of the walls, but many feet below the canopy, is a frieze of scenes from the history of the United States.
Around the lower part of the walls are eight great paintings. Four of them are the work of one of Washington's officers, Colonel John Trumbull of Connecticut, and are of great interest because the figures are actual portraits of the people represented. These paintings show the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and the resignation of General Washington at the close of the Revolution.
STATUARY HALL, IN THE CAPITOL