Sarah T. Hughes, a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, played a pivotal role in the immediate aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963. At 2:38 p.m. CST, aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field, she administered the presidential oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson, making him the 36th President of the United States. This was the first and only time a woman has sworn in a U.S. president, and the only time the oath has been administered aboard an airplane.
Judge Hughes, a longtime friend and political ally of Johnson, was summoned to perform the ceremony to ensure a swift and constitutionally sound transition of power during a period of national crisis. Her presence underscored both the urgency of the moment and the symbolic importance of continuity in leadership.
Sarah Tilghman Hughes passed away on April 23, 1985, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 88.
