The Private Inauguration Part 1 - The Bidens

The private swearing-in of the president and vice president happened a little differently than in the past. When President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush were sworn in on a Sunday, their little ceremony was held in the White House foyer. Invited guests sat in chairs facing the staircase and watched as the vice president went first and then the president.

This year the vice president took the oath of office almost four hours before the president. Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in my Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor (who apparently went from the ceremony up to New York, but will be back in Washington by noon tomorrow for the public swearing-in) in a ceremony that looked more like the Reagan/Biden private swearing in but at the Naval Observatory, aka the Vice President's Residence.