Of 27 past inaugural crowds I could find, Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W. Bush in 1993 were the biggest by a Republican president at 500,000. Ironically, Reagan’s second inauguration was forced inside by frigid weather and the parade cancelled. Bush wasn’t re-elected.

Democrat Barack Obama’s 1.8 million in 2009 is the all-time leader. Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1.2 million in 1965 was more than double John F. Kennedy’s 500,000 in 1961. Obama’s second inaugural in 2013 drew 1 million while Bill Clinton’s saw 800,000 in 1993.

Kennedy ushered in the modern era of large inaugurations. Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural in 1861 drew only 30,000. Considering the city’s population was 20,000, that’s pretty impressive.

The last two inaugurals must be judged differently. Donald Trump’s 2017 live crowd was lacking. More than 90 percent of Washingtonians voted against him so they sure weren’t going to watch the swearing in even on a relatively nice day. But, Trump’s swearing in was streamed live to millions so there’s reason to say his was the biggest. As for Joe Biden’s 2021 inaugural, it was during the height of the Covid shutdown so everything was virtual and uncountable.

Here are crowd counts based on newspaper reports.

2009: Barack Obama 1,800,000

1965: Lyndon B. Johnson 1,200,000

2013: Barack Obama 1,000,000

1993: Bill Clinton 800,000

1961: John F. Kennedy 500,000

1981: Ronald Reagan 500,000

2001: George W. Bush 500,000

2005: George W. Bush 400,000

1977: Jimmy Carter: 350,000

1973: Richard Nixon 300,000

1989: George Bush 300,000

1997: Bill Clinton 250,000

1905: Teddy Roosevelt 200,000

1953: Dwight D. Eisenhower 200,000

1885: Grover Cleveland 150,000

1857: James Buchanon 150,000

1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt 100,000

1853: Franklin Pierce 70,000

1841:William Henry Harrison 50,000

1929: Herbert Hoover 50,000

1829: Andrew Jackson 30,000

1861: Abraham Lincoln 30,000

1817: James Monroe 8,000

1873: Ulysses S. Grant, 2,000

1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1,800 (Private ceremony)

1985: Ronald Reagan 1,000 (Indoors)

2021 Joe Biden (Covid shutdown)