Every new president of the United States wants his inaugural to be a "renewal of hope," but true "renewal of hope" inaugurals aren't that common: President-elect Barack Obama's will be the first in 28 years since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.

That is because true "renewal of hope" inaugurals can only occur when they succeed outgoing failed presidencies, and there have been six of them in the past century. Barack Obama's will be the first "renewal of hope" of the 21st century.

Republicans Warren G. Harding in 1921, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 and Ronald Reagan in 1981 presided over such inaugurals when they succeeded discredited outgoing Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman and Jimmy Carter. Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, John F. Kennedy in 1961 and Jimmy Carter in 1977 enjoyed such inaugurals memorably when they succeeded Herbert Hoover, Eisenhower and Gerald Ford.