Looking for ways to watch a public political event? While this article will focus mostly on U.S. presidential elections, you can use many of these links to watch any publicly available political happening.
On the day of the presidential inauguration in the United States, the president-elect will be sworn in officially as the President of the United States, saying these words:
“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.”
This peaceful transfer of power happens every four years in the United States with the presidential election. With this presidential election comes an inauguration, a solemn yet celebratory affair that the entire nation watches with anticipation. Here are some past inaugural events:
Trump Presidential Inauguration 2017 [Youtube, ABC News, 8:33:04]
Obama Presidential Inauguration 2013 [Youtube, NYT, 1:19:49]
Obama Presidential Inauguration 2009 [Youtube, C-SPAN, 21:50]
Here are a number of places you can enjoy the presidential inauguration festivities, live on the web:
Joint Congressional Committees on Inaugural Ceremonies
The Presidential Inaugural Committee is the official place to find streaming video and media for the Presidential Inauguration.
Viewers can watch the actual swearing-in ceremonies live here; you can also view interactive maps of the Inaugural ceremonies, and watch the entertainers that will be participating in the Presidential Inauguration.
Major News Sites
Every major news site will be offering dedicated coverage of the Presidential Inauguration, including:
- ABC.com: ABC has a live stream on YouTube that covers the presidential inaugurations online.
- CBS.com
- MSNBC.com
- Fox.com
- CNN.com
- NYTimes.com
- WashingtonPost.com
- NPR.org
The news station CNN usually schedules a special Presidential Inauguration feature; users are able to watch the inauguration online in tandem with other CNN users who are also their Facebook friends. Be sure to check out the CNN live feed.
C-SPAN
C-SPAN puts together a Presidential Inauguration Hub, with live video feeds from key events throughout the Presidential Inauguration in their online Control Room. Note: to make sure to get the best coverage of the presidential inauguration or any other live, historical event, be sure to check the C-SPAN schedule to understand when and what kind of coverage to expect.
For example, there are different C-SPAN channels that cover different proceedings. C-SPAN covers live events on the floor of the U.S. House of representatives. C-SPAN2 covers live floor proceedings in the U.S. Senate. C-SPAN3 covers events that are considered public affairs, congressional hearings, and other related history programming. When the House and Senate are not in session or there are historical events that take precedence (such as the presidential inauguration), C-SPAN carries live coverage.
Twitter is a literal fire hose of information, and can be a bit of an overload. However, if you’re looking for live information on one of the most closely followed events worldwide, this is a great place to accomplish that.
Hashtags (keywords that help categorize information into more easily navigable topics) you’ll want to follow:#inauguration, #president, and of course, the name of the candidate who has been chosen to take the oath of office.
In addition, you’ll want to take a look at a few users that do a great job of covering inaugural events: the official White House Twitter account at https://twitter.com/whitehouse, the Marine Corp band at https://twitter.com/marineband, and the Secret Service at https://twitter.com/secretservice.
Live streaming options
Users can watch the presidential inauguration online and on connected devices via a variety of options:
- New York Times Live Stream: a variety of coverage will be offered here, anything from parade interviews to the presidential swearing-in.
- The Official White House Live Stream: This is the official headquarters of live-streamed events at the White House.
- Politico Live Stream: The popular news pundit offers live streaming and news of the presidential inauguration.
- The White House usually streams the inauguration live on its’ YouTube channel.
- Looking for a Spanish language version? Try Univision’s Spanish-language live stream of the inauguration.