Reagan Bush Inauguration Day White House

Color photos of Reagan and Bush with yellow banners underneath with black text. Image of white house in background with blue background above. White text and full color presidential seal with white illustrations of stars.

On January 20, 1981, Ronald R. Reagan became President of the United States of America. Although Reagan’s campaign for candidacy during the primaries in 1980 had been successful, it wasn’t until the night before accepting his nomination as the Republican candidate for presidency that Reagan called and offered George H. W. Bush the role as running mate. The next day at the Republican National Convention on July 17, 1980, Ronald Reagan formally accepted his nomination and announced that Bush would be running as his Vice Presidential candidate. Reagan had been behind in the polls, but he made an incredible comeback after the presidential debates. On November 4, 1980, Reagan and Bush won.
The following January, Reagan and Bush were sworn into their roles as President and Vice President of the Unites States of America. During Reagan’s first official speech as President of the United States, he stressed the importance of working together as Americans to build a better nation of free people and the necessity to rework the federal government work for the people and not against it. The Inauguration Day was filled with speeches, food, marching bands, parade floats, and the Inaugural Ball. It was during the festivities that the new President of the United States had the honor to announce that American prisoners were safely in transit back from Iran after an extended period as captives. A total of 8,000 Americans walked or rode by during the parade on that day.