(Tuesday, March 4, 1873, 12:30 p.m. local time) — President Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois took the oath of office today for a second term as the 18th President of the United States on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol.

Former U.S. Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts was sworn in as the 18th Vice President of the United States, succeeding Vice President Schuyler Colfax, who was passed over for a second term by the Republican Party.

The Republican ticket of Grant-Wilson had defeated the Liberal Republican ticket of Horace Greeley and Benjamin Gratz Brown in the 1872 election by 286-66 votes in the Electoral College (Greeley’s votes were distributed to other candidates after he died Nov. 29, 1872).

This was one of the coldest inaugurations in U.S. history with 16 °F at noon, and the inaugural ball ended early when the food froze.