By Jahaura Michelle
Blavity
https://blavity.com/
President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration on Jan. 20 coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as both federal holidays fall on the same day in 2025.
Inauguration Day — when the new president and vice president are sworn in at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. — occurs every four years on Jan. 20 (or Jan. 21 if Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday), according to USA.Gov.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday in January, which usually follows his birthday on Jan. 15.
How rare is it for MLK Day and Inauguration Day to fall on the same day?
It’s unusual for the two federal holidays to fall on the same day.
According to Naples Daily News, MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1983 and was first observed on Jan. 20, 1986.
There have been nine inauguration ceremonies since MLK Day became a federal holiday, but only two presidential inaugurations have been held on MLK Day thus far: Bill Clinton’s second inauguration on Jan. 20, 1997, and Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Jan. 21, 2013. Trump’s second inauguration, just a few weeks away, will also occur on MLK Day.
Why is the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20?
The Constitution states that the presidential inauguration will be held every four years on Jan. 20.
“The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin,” the Constitution states.
The event has been around for 88 years and was initially set on March 4 (or March 5 if March 4 falls on a Sunday). However, the 20th amendment changed it to Jan. 20, with Franklin D. Roosevelt being the first president to be sworn into office on that day, New York Magazine reported.
Kamala Harris could have made Black history by being sworn in on MLK Day
Vice President Kamala Harris would have made history as the first Black woman president of the United States had she won November’s election. Being sworn in on MLK Day would have marked a significant moment in both Black and U.S. history.
While a percentage of Americans were upset over Trump’s presidential victory, Dr. Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s youngest daughter, recently told The Independent that she was happy both federal holidays fall on the same day.
“I’m glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr. King is still speaking to us,” she told the outlet. She sees the Jan. 20 event as a wakeup call for the country and an opportunity to stand up to the incoming administration’s charged agenda items. “We cannot retreat or recoil,” King said. “We have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of my father.”
