President McKinley Taking the Oath

1901 Documentary 44 seconds

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About President McKinley Taking the Oath

On 4 March 1901 the diplomatic corps comes down the Capitol steps with Admiral George Dewey and General Nelson A. Miles and takes seats in front of the stand. The Cabinet follows, then William McKinley, preceded by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Joseph Ransdell and a joint committee that includes Mark Hanna. Chief Justice Melville Fuller, in black robes, holds out a Bible and gives the oath. McKinley kisses the book and starts to read his address as rain begins.

Cast & crew

More about President McKinley Taking the Oath

Edison photographers worked about fifteen feet from the president under a government permit. The July 1901 catalogue lists 50 feet, says a downpour stopped the camera almost as the speech began, and offers the picture from 16 March 1901. No director is named.

Themes

  • A second inaugural oath
  • Dewey and Miles on the steps
  • Rain cutting the speech
  • William McKinley
  • Melville Fuller
  • George Dewey
  • Nelson A. Miles
  • Mark Hanna
  • Capitol
  • oath
  • 1901

Background

This is McKinley's second inauguration, six months before he was shot in Buffalo.

In film history

In 1985 the Library of Congress placed the inauguration footage, with President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol, on the National Film Registry.

Making

The first setup shows rows of still-empty seats on the Capitol steps. The second is the black-draped balcony and the oath.

Look

The Edison camera sits close enough that the catalogue boasts of fifteen feet from McKinley, then loses the speech to rain.

Preservation

The Library of Congress holds a copy. Its print may not include every shot listed in the Edison catalogue.

Notes

  • Other Edison films that day include President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol and President McKinley Leaving the White House for the Capitol.
  • The catalogue names Senators Spooner and James K. Jones and Representatives Cannon, Dalzell, and McRae in the escort.
  • The Library of Congress timing of its copy is 44 seconds at 15 frames per second, and that copy may not contain every shot the catalogue describes.
  • Thomas Edison is sometimes called the director. He is not credited as director on the film.

Scenes

  • Dewey and Miles walk the carpeted Capitol steps ahead of the Cabinet.
  • Fuller holds out the Bible and McKinley kisses it.
  • The view stops as the speech starts and the rain comes down.

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (President William McKinley Taking The Oath (1901) by Thomas A. Edison.webm)