Video: 'William Howard Taft | 60-Second Presidents | PBS'

(Thursday, March 4, 1909, 12:50 p.m. local time) — William Howard Taft, 51, was inaugurated as the 27th President of the United States today at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller administering the oath of office.

Due to a blizzard the night before that covered Washington, D.C. with 10 inches of snow, the inauguration was moved indoors, into the Senate Chamber.

Taft succeeded President Theodore Roosevelt, 50, who honored his promise not to seek a third term, and persuaded his close friend, Taft, to become his successor.

James S. Sherman, 53, was sworn-in as the 27th Vice President of the United States, succeeding Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, 56, who had unsuccessfully sought the 1908 Republican presidential nomination.

Taft and Sherman, Republicans, had defeated the Democratic ticket of William Jennings Bryan and John W. Kern in the Nov. 3, 1908, general election.