page_title: Vice President of the United States
section_title: Inauguration
hierarchical_section_title: Vice President of the United States / Tenure / Inauguration
caption_attribution_description: L-R: President Lyndon Johnson, President-Elect Richard Nixon, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, Spiro Agnew sworn in as Vice President, and the outgoing Vice President Hubert Humphrey at inauguration, 20 January1969. This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 194280. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing. English&#160;| Español&#160;| Français&#160;| Italiano&#160;| Македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| Polski&#160;| Português&#160;| Русский&#160;| Slovenščina&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| Українська&#160;| Tiếng Việt&#160;| 中文（简体）&#160;| 中文（繁體）&#160;| +/− Creator: President (1969-1974: Nixon). White House Photo Office. (1969 - 1974) (Most Recent) Type of Archival Materials: Photographs and other Graphic Materials Level of Description: Item from Collection NS-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection, 01/20/1969 - 08/09/1974 Location: Richard Nixon Library - College Park (NLRNS), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, Room 1320, College Park, MD 20740-6001 PHONE: 301-837-3290, FAX: 301-837-3202, EMAIL: nixon@nara.gov Production Date: 01/20/1969 Part of: Series: Master Print File, 1969 - 1974 Scope &amp; Content Note: Pictured: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Everett Dirksen,&#160;?, Spiro T. Agnew, Hubert H. Humphrey. Subject: Inauguration - 1969. Access Restrictions: Unrestricted Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
context_page_description: The vice president of the United States is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over Senate deliberations, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is indirectly elected together with the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College.
  The modern vice presidency is a position of significant power and is widely seen as an integral part of a president's administration. While the exact nature of the role varies in each administration, most modern vice presidents serve as a key presidential advisor, governing partner, and representative of the president. The vice president is also a statutory member of the National Security Council and thus plays a significant role in national security matters.
context_section_description: Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the vice president's term of office begins at noon on January 20, as does the president's. The first presidential and vice presidential terms to begin on this date, known as Inauguration Day, were the second terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner in 1937. Previously, Inauguration Day was on March 4. As a result of the date change, both men's first terms (1933–37) were short of four years by 43 days.
  Also in 1937, the vice president's swearing-in ceremony was held on the Inaugural platform on the Capitol's east front immediately before the president's swearing in. Up until then, most vice presidents took the oath of office in the Senate chamber, prior to the president's swearing-in ceremony. Although the Constitution contains the specific wording of the presidential oath, it contains only a general requirement, in Article VI, that the vice president and other government officers shall take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. The current form, which has been used since 1884 reads:
  I, (first name last name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
caption: Four vice presidents: (from left) outgoing president Lyndon B. Johnson (the 37th vice president), incoming president Richard Nixon (36th), (Everett Dirksen administering oath), incoming vice president Spiro Agnew (39th), and outgoing vice president Hubert Humphrey (38th), January 20, 1969
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