Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901)

On this day in 1870 Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from
Natchez, Mississippi, was sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming
the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

During the Civil War, Revels, a college-educated minister, helped
form African American army regiments for the Union cause,
started a school for freed men, and served as a chaplain for the
Union army. Posted to Mississippi, Revels remained in the
former Confederate state after the war and entered into
Reconstruction-era Southern politics.

Hiram Revels taking the oath of office.

After President James A. Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, Chester A. Arthur takes the oath of office as the 21st
president of the United States of America.

Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886)
Presidential Term: September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885

The swearing in of President Gerald Ford (left) by Supreme Court
Chief Justice Warren Burger. First Lady Betty Ford looks on.

In accordance with his statement of resignation the previous evening, Richard
M. Nixon officially ended his term as the 37th president of the United States at
noon on this day in 1974. Before departing with his family in a helicopter from
the White House lawn, he smiled farewell and enigmatically raised his arms in
a victory or peace salute (below). The helicopter door was then closed, and the 
Nixon family began their journey home to San Clemente, California. Nixon was 
the first U.S. president to resign from office. Vice President Gerald R. Ford 
was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of 
the White House. After taking the oath of office, President Ford spoke to the
nation in a television address, declaring, “My fellow Americans, our long 
national nightmare is over.”

Pres. Gerald R. Ford addresses an audience in the East Room of
the White House after being sworn in as the 38th president of the
United States.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.(Leslie Lynch King Jr.)
(July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006)