Inauguration Day and MLK Day coincide this year. It's a rare overlap

By Rachel Treisman

Published January 20, 2025 at 7:15 AM CST

Martin Luther King Jr., waves to supporters in August 1963 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Trump's second inauguration is just the third time a president will take the oath of office on the day dedicated to honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

The second inaugurations of presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama took place on MLK Day in 1997 and 2013.

The two events aren't due to coincide again until Jan. 2053 due to their particular requirements and quirks of the calendar.

MLK Day — which was approved as a federal holiday in 1983 and has been recognized in all 50 states since 2000 — always takes place on the third Monday in January, because it falls near his Jan. 15 birthday.

Inauguration Day has been held on Jan. 20th since the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1933.

Presidents had previously taken their oaths in early March because of how long it took to tabulate votes and travel to D.C., creating a long lame-duck period that Congress was eager to shorten once technological advancements allowed. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt became the first president inaugurated on Jan. 20.

In years where Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday, a private swearing-in ceremony is held that day followed by a public ceremony on Jan. 21 — as was the case with Obama's second inauguration.

Obama took the oath of office that year using a Bible that had belonged to King himself.