It’s a rare overlap that the same day — Monday, Jan. 20 — marks the federal holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-68) and the U.S. presidential inauguration. Today is the second time in history for such a juxtaposition, with President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration being the first in 1997.
This unusual collision in 2025 marks the swearing in of the 47th president of the United States, MLK’s birthday (Jan. 15, he would have turned 95 this year) and his legacy, as well as the 30th anniversary of the U.S. National Day of Service. In 1994, Congress designated MLK Day as “a day on, not a day off” and it is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service.
Chaos, Community, Diversity and the U.S.
At the intersection of all of this sits the title of the civil rights activist’s 1967 book: “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” No matter anyone’s feelings about the incoming president or the long-dead activist, today is when we ask that question of ourselves and our leaders.
A federal holiday since 1983, it’s an ironic convergence that MLK Day — the third Monday in January — is honored in conjunction with the swearing in of a U.S. president who has plans to roll back diversity efforts. In a reverse parallel to MLK’s message in the 1950s and 1960s, the incoming president has pledged to address what he called a “definite anti-white feeling” in America.
U.S. presidents come and go, with some making a noted mark in the annals of history, some scorned, and others totally forgotten. U.S. President Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)? Millard Fillmore (1850-53)?Warren G. Harding (1921-23)? As we bring President 47 on deck, how many of the previous 46 was a catalyst for positive change? What’s remembered and forgotten? Who made an impact or caused a fuss that mattered in the long-term?
MLK’s Legacy
Unlike the promises of presidents and elected officials, activists and their messaging are rarely forgotten. King advocated for nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice and lift racial oppression. He highlighted issues of inequality with peaceful demonstrations organized around sit-ins and marches. In 1964 when he was 35, he became the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (Malala Yousafzai is the youngest female, receiving the nod in 2014 when she was 17 years old).
King’s momentum would end just a few years later, on April 4, 1968, on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry St., in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray (1928-98) pleaded guilty in 1969 of firing the fatal shot that ended MLK’s life. Controversy about the conspiracy to kill MLK has abounded ever since. The King family said in 1990 that they believe the true murderer was Memphis Police Department Lt. Earl Clark, in addition to FBI and other government actors. A documentary, “Four Tried Dying,” was released last January.
“There is abundant evidence of a major, high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband,” Coretta Scott King, MLK’s widow, said just after a jury found that her husband had been murdered in a conspiracy that included ‘governmental actors.’ This was in a 1999 civil suit that has largely been forgotten, according to a news release on Jan. 24, 2024. The documentary also examines the motives for the murders President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X, and the significant evidence of government involvement in all their deaths.
MLK Day
MLK Day is observed each year on the third Monday of January, and the commemoration is the only federal holiday that is “designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities,” according to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The first national holiday honoring King was celebrated in 1986 but wasn’t until 2000 that al 50 states recognized the federal holiday. In some states, MLK Day is celebrated alongside holidays that commemorate Confederate figures. For example, in Alabama and Mississippi, MLK Day is also known as “King-Lee Day” because it’s celebrated on the same day as Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
Inauguration Day
Trump was sworn in as the second president to serve non-consecutive terms, with Grover Cleveland winning elections in 1884 and 1892. Cleveland served as the nation’s 22nd and 24th president.
Inauguration Day, while not a federal holiday, is observed as a holiday by federal employees who would be working in the “Inauguration Day Area” and who are regularly scheduled to perform non-overtime work on Inauguration Day. Most presidential inaugurations since 1801 have been held in Washington D.C. at the Capitol Building.
Traditionally held outdoors, 2025 was held inside due to cold weather, where the new president told attendees in the Capitol Rotunda, “We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars.” He explained how U.S. astronauts will plant “stars and stripes” on Mars.
