Video: 'William Mckinley Inauguration (1897)'

(Thursday, March 4, 1897, at about 1:30 p.m. local time) — Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was inaugurated today as the 25th President of the United States in front of original Senate Wing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller administering oath of office.

McKinley, a Republican, succeeded Democratic President Grover Cleveland (who retired after two non-consecutive terms) after defeating former Democratic Rep. William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska in the United States presidential election of 1896.

Former New Jersey Senate President Garret Hobart was inaugurated as the 24th Vice President of the United States having defeated Democrat Arthur Sewall, a wealthy shipbuilder from Maine (incumbent Vice President Adlai Stevenson I retired after one term).

This was the first inauguration to be recorded on film.