EN
The article considers the history and development of the inauguration ceremonies of US presidents. Their role in legitimizing power and their influence on creating the image of the state is evaluated. The very specificity of the inauguration as a social phenomenon makes this ceremonial action a kind of illustration of the cultural condition, mores and tastes of society, national characteristics, becoming a symbolic characteristic of hierarchical differences. Its norms reflect not only ideology, but also the social psychology of society, without an adequate interpretation of which it is impossible to correctly understand the behavior of statesmen in specific situations related to their social status. State civil and military ceremonies, being, as a rule, striking events in the life of the state, have symbolic meaning. They establish a balance between their immediate participants and the highest environment, testify to the stability/instability within the ruling elite. Modern ceremonials of the inauguration of world presidents are politics, prestige, and the image of the government in power.