6. January Inaugurations - President Bartlet Incorrectly Asserts It Was Thomas Jefferson And James Madison Who Scheduled The Ceremony For Winter
In the very last episode of the West Wing, "Tomorrow" (Season 7, Episode 22), President-Elect Matthew Santos takes over from President Bartlet and the former also has his inauguration ceremony. First Lady Abbey Bartlet complains to her husband towards the beginning of the episode about inaugurations being scheduled in January, to which President Bartlet claims it was the Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who decided upon the date. But this is simply untrue, because until 1933 the inauguration ceremony was held on March 4 - the day of the year on which the Constitution of the United States took effect in 1789. But, following President Franklin D Roosevelt's first inauguration on March 4, 1933, it was moved to January 20 (or 21st if the 20th falls on a Sunday) via the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. President Bartlet would know this due to his deep love of history, and particularly of historical presidential trivia.