Oath of office of the President of the United States

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President Barack Obama being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John G. Roberts on January 20, 2009.

The oath of office of the President of the United States is an oath or affirmation required by the United States Constitution before the President begins the execution of the office. The wording is specified in Article Two, Section One, Clause Eight: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Contents

[edit] The requirement to take the oath

Article 2 of the United States Constitution prescribes that the President must take the oath "before he enter[s] on the Execution of his Office".

The 20th Amendment, however, states that the terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

It has been suggested[by whom?] that the wording of the 20th Amendment, which makes no reference to the oath, superseded the requirement set out in article two of the Constitution, that the oath be taken before the President begins the discharge of his duties.[citation needed]

It has also been suggested, however, that the oath is still necessary, because the 20th Amendment only stipulated that the four-year presidential term of office shall start at noon on January 20, not that the President shall enter upon the exercise of his Office at that moment. The start of the term does not exactly coincide with the new President entering upon the execution of his duties. President Washington's first four-year term, for instance, began on March 4 and ended exactly four years later, but he only assumed the Presidency on April 30, when he took the oath of office. Vice-Presidents succeeding to the Presidency also assume office to finish a term that has long started. So the start of the term does not coincide with "enter[ing] in the execution of the Office".

The controversy, however, is not of much relevance, since all Presidents who assumed office since the adoption of the 20th Amendment have continued to take the oath. It should be noted, however, that the Presidents-elect who took office after the enactment of the 20th Amendment were not treated as President by the judges officiating at the inauguration ceremonies before the actual oath taking, (e.g. Chief Justice Warren Burger asked "Vice-President" Ford, "Governor" Carter, and "Governor" Reagan if they were prepared to take the oath; Chief Justice William Rehnquist addressed George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton as "Mr. Vice-President" and "Governor," respectively, when asking the same question; and in like manner Chief Justice John Roberts posed the same question to Barack Obama four minutes past noon, addressing him by the title of "Senator").[1] At least in the cases of Presidents Clinton and Obama the oath was taken past noon, and, in the case of President Ford, he was succeeding to the presidency (due to President Nixon's resignation) to finish a term that had already started; yet, they were not addressed as President by the Chief Justice before the oath was taken.

[edit] Suspension of the executive power

In 1916, the State Department determined that "there is no interval between the term of one President and the beginning of his successor, although there may be a slight interval when the executive power is suspended." Therefore, a delay in taking the oath of office would not leave a hiatus in the office of the President, but the new president would not have the constitutional power to perform any executive function until the oath of office was taken.[2]

Such finding was based on a 1821 ruling by Chief Justice John Marshall opining that it was "inevitable" the existence of a short "interval in which the executive power is suspended" because "the Constitution only provides that the President shall take the oath it prescribes 'before he enters on the execution of the office'." Marshall then referred to the interval between the midnight of March 4, when the presidential term started, and the noon of the 4th, when the oath of office was taken, as it was the practice at that time, saying that "there has been uniformly and voluntarily an interval of twelve hours in which the executive power could not be exercised." Marshall further notes that the law was silent on the exact time the oath should be taken, leaving it "at the discretion of the high officer", who could decide to take the oath on the first hour of his term in an emergency, or could defer the taking of the oath until the next day, or even at a later date, if more convenient (for instance if inauguration day fell on a Sunday); neither timing would be deemed improper, though it is reasonable to take the oath "as soon as it could be conveniently taken" so to shorten that time interval.[2]

With the enactment of the 20th Amendment, the moment when one term ends and another begins was changed from midnight on March 4th to noon on January 20th, but the amendment only dealt with the beginning and end of the presidential term, not with the moment when the new President actually enters in the execution of his office. All Presidents inaugurated after the enactment of the 20th Amendment have continued to take the oath of office before they enter in the execution of the office, but the inauguration ceremonies now coincide with the beginning of a new term, avoiding the twelve hour hiatus, since presidents usually take the oath of office at noon. The issue of suspension of executive power, however, is still relevant when a Vice-President succeeds to the presidency, since there can be a larger hiatus between the death or resignation of one President and the swearing-in of the successor, and when there is a delay in the swearing-in of a new President on Inauguration Day. Since the enactment of the 20th Amendment, the hiatus between the beginning of the term of a new President and his taking the oath of office has not been completely eliminated, since some Presidents, such as Bill Clinton in his first swearing-in, have taken the oath of office a few minutes past noon, due to slight delays in the inauguration ceremonies. In 1961, because of a severe snow storm the previous night, the inauguration ran about an hour late, and John F. Kennedy didn't take the oath of office until about 1:00 PM.

[edit] Ancillary practices

[edit] The administrator of the oath

While the Constitution does not mandate that anyone administer the oath, the oath is typically administered by the Chief Justice, but sometimes by another federal or state judge (George Washington was first sworn in by Robert Livingston, the chancellor of the State of New York in 1789, while Calvin Coolidge was first sworn in by his father, a Justice of the Peace and a Vermont notary public who lived in a home without electricity, phone, or running water, in 1923). By convention, incoming Presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible or other book while taking the oath of office.

William R. King is the only executive official sworn into office on foreign soil. By special act of Congress, he was allowed to take his oath for the office of the Vice President on March 24, 1853 in Cuba, where he had gone because of his poor health.[3] He died 25 days later.

From 1789 through 2009, the swearing-in has been administered by 15 Chief Justices, one Associate Justice, three federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public. Though anyone legally authorized to administer an oath may swear in a President, to date the only person to do so who was not a judge was John C. Coolidge, Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary whose home the then-Vice President was visiting in 1923 when he learned of the death of President Warren G. Harding.

Sarah T. Hughes is the only woman to administer the oath of office (she was a U.S. District Court judge who swore Lyndon Johnson into office on Air Force One after the Kennedy assassination).

[edit] The option of taking an oath or an affirmation

Franklin Pierce was the only president known to use the word affirm rather than swear. Theodore Roosevelt did not use a Bible when taking the oath in 1901. Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, and Richard Nixon swore the oath on two Bibles. John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law.[4] Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One. Washington kissed the Bible afterwards,[5] and subsequent presidents followed suit, up to Harry Truman,[6] but Dwight Eisenhower broke that tradition by saying his own prayer instead of kissing the Bible.[7]

[edit] Forms of administering the oath

There have been two forms of administering, and taking, the oath of office.

The first, now in disuse, is where the administrator articulates the constitutional oath in the form of a question, and modifying the wording from the first to the second person, as in, "Do you George Washington solemnly swear ...", requesting an affirmation. At that point a response of "I do" or "I swear" completes the oath.

It is believed that this was the common procedure at least until the early 20th century. In 1881, the New York Times article covering the swearing in of Chester A. Arthur, reported that he responded to the question of accepting the oath with the words, "I will, so help me God."[8] In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Chief Justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear . . ."[9] Hoover replied with a simple "I do".

In the second, and current form, the administrator articulates the oath in the affirmative, and in the first person, so that the President takes the oath by repeating it verbatim.

Many times the President-elect's name is added after the "I"; for example, "I, George Washington, do . . ." Lyndon B. Johnson did not add his name when swearing his first oath of office after Kennedy's death; there is evidence that in all other inaugurations since Franklin Roosevelt's first, the name of the president was added to the oath.

[edit] Oath flubs

  • In 1909, when President William Howard Taft was sworn in, Chief Justice Melville Fuller misquoted the oath, but the error was not publicized at the time. The mistake was similar to the one Taft himself would make twenty years later when swearing in President Hoover. Recalling the incident, Taft wrote, "When I was sworn in as President by Chief Justice Fuller, he made a similar slip," and added, "but in those days when there was no radio, it was observed only in the Senate chamber where I took the oath."[9]
  • In 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft garbled the oath when he swore in President Herbert Hoover using the words "preserve, maintain, and defend the Constitution", instead of "preserve, protect, and defend". The error was picked up by schoolgirl Helen Terwilliger on the radio. Taft eventually acknowledged his error, but did not think it was important, and Hoover did not retake the oath. In Taft's view, his departure from the text did not invalidate the oath.[9][10][11]
  • In 1941, C. Elmore Cropley, the Supreme Court clerk who held the Bible for President Franklin Roosevelt's third inauguration dropped the Bible after the oath was given. Photos detailing the mishap filled a full page of Life magazine the next week.
  • In 1945, President Harry S. Truman's bare initial caused an unusual slip when he first became president and took the oath. At a meeting in the Cabinet Room, Chief Justice Harlan Stone began reading the oath by saying "I, Harry Shippe Truman, . . ." Truman responded: "I, Harry S. Truman, . . ."[12]
  • In 1965, Chief Justice Earl Warren prompted Lyndon Johnson to say, "the Office of the Presidency of the United States", which President Johnson duly repeated.[13]
"Barack Obama taking the Oath of Office"
Obama takes the Oath of office of the President of the United States during his inauguration on January 20, 2009. (Duration: 45 seconds)
Problems listening to this file? See media help.
  • In 2009, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, while administering the oath to Barack Obama, incorrectly recited part of the oath. Roberts prompted, "That I will execute the Office of President to the United States faithfully." Obama stopped at "execute," and waited for Roberts to correct himself. Roberts, after a false start, then followed Obama's "execute" with "faithfully", which results in "execute faithfully", which is also incorrect. Obama then repeated Roberts' initial, incorrect prompt, with the word "faithfully" after "United States".[14][15] The oath was re-administered the next day by Roberts at the White House.[16][17]

[edit] Retaking the oath of office

Seven presidents have repeated their oath of office, for different reasons:

President Barack Obama being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts for the second time, on January 21, 2009.
  • Presidents Chester A. Arthur (1881)[18][19] and Calvin Coolidge (1923)[20] took their first oath in a private venue (their residences), in the middle of the night, immediately after being notified of the death of a predecessor (James A. Garfield and Warren G. Harding, respectively). They later retook the oath after returning to Washington. In the case of Coolidge, there was an additional doubt whether an oath administered by a public notary (Coolidge's father) was valid.[21]
"President Obama Re-Takes Oath"
Obama retakes takes the Oath of office of the President of the United States at 19:35 EST, January 21, 2009 (00:35 UTC, January 22, 2009) (Duration: 54 seconds).
Problems listening to this file? See media help.
  • On January 21, 2009, Chief Justice Roberts administered the presidential oath a second time to Barack Obama "out of an abundance of caution," according to the White House, due to the fact that, when the oath was administered to President Obama the first time, in the public inauguration ceremony, the word "faithfully" was misplaced. The second oath was administered in a simple, private ceremony in the Map Room of the White House.[17][26][27][28] Obama's oath-retaking differed from all his predecessors' in that the private ceremony happened after the public one.

[edit] "So help me God"

Further information: So help me God#United States and Oath

It is uncertain how many Presidents used a Bible or added the words "So help me God" at the end of the oath, or in their acceptance of the oath, as neither is required by law; unlike many other federal oaths which do include the phrase "So help me God."[29] There is currently debate as to whether or not George Washington, the first president, added the phrase to his acceptance of the oath. All contemporary sources fail to mention Washington as adding a religious codicil to his acceptance.

The historical debate over who first used "So help me God," is marred by ignoring the two forms of giving the oath. The first, now in disuse, is when the administrator articulates the constitutional oath in the form of a question, as in, "Do you George Washington solemnly swear ...", requesting an affirmation. At that point a response of "I do" or "I swear" completes the oath. Without verbatim transcripts, the scant existing evidence shows this was the common procedure at least until the early 20th century. In 1881, the New York Times article covering the swearing in of Chester A. Arthur, reported that he responded to the question of accepting the oath with the words, "I will, so help me God."[30] In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Chief Justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear . . ."[9] Hoover replied with a simple "I do".

It is the second, and current form of administration, where both the Chief Justice and the President articulate the oath, that appending "So Help Me God" has been argued by some to be a breach of the constitutional instructions. This is the contention of a Federal law suit filed in the District of Columbia by Michael Newdow on December 30, 2008. In this suit a distinction is made between the words spoken by the administrator, which must conform to the exact 35 words of the constitution, and the President, who has a right to add a personal prayer, such as "So Help Me God."[31]

Chief Justice Roberts reply was that his "prompting" for these four extra-constitutional words were to be recited "after" the oath of office, and not as a part of the oath as claimed in the suit.[32]

The phrase "So help me God" is explicitly prescribed in oaths as early as the Judiciary Act of 1789 for U.S. officers other than the President. Although the phrase is mandatory in these oaths, the said Act also allows for the option that the phrase be omitted by the officer, in which case it would be called an affirmation instead of an oath: "Which words, so help me God, shall be omitted in all cases where an affirmation is admitted instead of an oath."[33] In contrast, the oath of the President is the only oath specified in the Constitution. It does not include the closing phrase "So help me God", and it also allows for the optional form of an affirmation which is not considered an oath. In practice, however, most Presidents, at least during the last century, have opted to take the oath (rather than an affirmation), to use a Bible to do so, and also to close the oath with the customary phrase.

The earliest known source indicating Washington added "So help me God" to his acceptance, not to the oath, is attributed to Washington Irving, aged six at the time of the inauguration, and first appears 65 years after the event.[34]

The only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul, Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath,[35] without reference to Washington's adding "So Help Me God" to his acceptance.

Evidence is lacking to support the claim that Presidents between Washington and Abraham Lincoln used the phrase "So help me God." A contemporaneous newspaper account of Lincoln's 1865 inauguration states that Lincoln appended the phrase "So help me God" to the oath.[36] This newspaper report is followed by another account, provided later in the same year after Lincoln's death (April 15, 1865), that Lincoln said "So help me God" during his oath.[37] The evidence pertaining to the 1865 inauguration is much stronger than that pertaining to Lincoln's 1861 use of the phrase. Several sources claim that Lincoln said "So help me God" at his 1861 inauguration, yet these sources were not contemporaneous to the event.[38][39] Shortly after giving the speech, Lincoln stated that his oath was "registered in Heaven",[40] something some have taken as indicating he likely uttered the phrase "So help me God." Conversely, there was a claim made by A.M. Milligan (a radical Presbyterian minister who wanted the U.S. government to be officially Christian) that letters were sent to Abraham Lincoln asking him to swear to God during his inaugurations, and Lincoln allegedly wrote back saying that "God's name was not in the Constitution, and he could not depart from the letter of that instrument."[41][42]

Other than the president of the U.S., many politicians (including Jefferson Davis, sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in 1861) used the phrase "So help me God" when taking their oaths.[43] Likewise, all federal judges and executive officers were required as early as 1789 by statute to include the phrase unless they affirmed, in which case the phrase must be omitted.[44]

Given that nearly every President-elect since President Franklin Roosevelt has recited the codicil, it is likely that the majority of presidents-elect have uttered the phrase[45] (as well as some vice presidents, while taking their oaths). However, as President Theodore Roosevelt chose to conclude his oath with the phrase "And thus I swear," it seems that this current of tradition was not overwhelmingly strong even as recently as the turn of the twentieth century. Only Franklin Pierce has chosen to affirm rather than swear.[46] It is often asserted that Herbert Hoover also affirmed, because he was a Quaker, but newspaper reports before his inauguration state his intention to swear rather than affirm.[47]

[edit] List of oath takings

The oath of office of the President of the United States has been taken on 72 occasions by 43 people.

Date President Location Administered by[a]
April 30, 1789 George Washington Balcony of Federal Hall
New York, New York		 Robert Livingston
Chancellor of New York
March 4, 1793 George Washington Senate Chamber
Congress Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		 William Cushing
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
March 4, 1797 John Adams House Chamber
Congress Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		 Oliver Ellsworth
March 4, 1801 Thomas Jefferson Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1805 Thomas Jefferson Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1809 James Madison House Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1813 James Madison House Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1817 James Monroe In front of Old Brick Capitol
(1st & A Sts., N.E.)
now site of the Supreme Court Building		 John Marshall
March 5, 1821 James Monroe House Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1825 John Q. Adams House Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1829 Andrew Jackson East Portico, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1833 Andrew Jackson House Chamber, U.S. Capitol John Marshall
March 4, 1837 Martin Van Buren East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
March 4, 1841 William H. Harrison East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
April 6, 1841 John Tyler Brown's Hotel
6th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.		 William Cranch
Chief Judge, U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
March 4, 1845 James K. Polk East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
March 5, 1849 Zachary Taylor East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
July 10, 1850 Millard Fillmore House Chamber, U.S. Capitol William Cranch
Chief Judge, U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
March 4, 1853 Franklin Pierce East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
March 4, 1857 James Buchanan East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln East Portico, U.S. Capitol Roger B. Taney
March 4, 1865 Abraham Lincoln East Portico, U.S. Capitol Salmon P. Chase
April 15, 1865 Andrew Johnson Kirkwood Hotel, 12th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Salmon P. Chase
March 4, 1869 Ulysses S. Grant East Portico, U.S. Capitol Salmon P. Chase
March 4, 1873 Ulysses S. Grant East Portico, U.S. Capitol Salmon P. Chase
March 3, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes Red Room, White House (privately) Morrison R. Waite
March 5, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly) Morrison R. Waite
March 4, 1881 James A. Garfield East Portico, U.S. Capitol Morrison R. Waite
September 20, 1881 Chester A. Arthur Residence
123 Lexington Avenue
New York City (privately)		 John R. Brady
Judge, New York Supreme Court
September 22, 1881 Chester A. Arthur Office of the Vice President
U.S. Capitol (publicly)		 Morrison R. Waite
March 4, 1885 Grover Cleveland East Portico, U.S. Capitol Morrison R. Waite
March 4, 1889 Benjamin Harrison East Portico, U.S. Capitol Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1893 Grover Cleveland East Portico, U.S. Capitol Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1897 William McKinley In front of Original Senate Wing
U.S. Capitol		 Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1901 William McKinley East Portico, U.S. Capitol Melville W. Fuller
September 14, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt Ansley Wilcox House
Buffalo, New York		 John R. Hazel
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
March 4, 1905 Theodore Roosevelt East Portico, U.S. Capitol Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1909 William H. Taft Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol Melville W. Fuller
March 4, 1913 Woodrow Wilson East Portico, U.S. Capitol Edward D. White
March 4, 1917 Woodrow Wilson President's Room, U.S. Capitol (privately) Edward D. White
March 5, 1917 Woodrow Wilson East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly) Edward D. White
March 4, 1921 Warren G. Harding East Portico, U.S. Capitol Edward D. White
August 3, 1923 Calvin Coolidge His father's residence
Plymouth, Vermont		 John C. Coolidge
Notary Public (his father)
August 21, 1923 Calvin Coolidge Willard Hotel,
Washington, D.C.		 Adolph A. Hoehling, Jr.
Judge, District of Columbia Supreme Court [48]
March 4, 1925 Calvin Coolidge East Portico, U.S. Capitol William H. Taft
March 4, 1929 Herbert C. Hoover East Portico, U.S. Capitol William H. Taft
March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt East Portico, U.S. Capitol Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt East Portico, U.S. Capitol Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt East Portico, U.S. Capitol Charles E. Hughes
January 20, 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt South Portico, White House Harlan F. Stone
April 12, 1945 Harry S. Truman Cabinet Room, White House Harlan F. Stone
January 20, 1949 Harry S. Truman East Portico, U.S. Capitol
First oath to be televised[49]		 Frederick M. Vinson
January 20, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower East Portico, U.S. Capitol Frederick M. Vinson
January 20, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower East Room, White House (privately) Earl Warren
January 21, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower East Portico, U.S. Capitol (publicly) Earl Warren
January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy East Portico, U.S. Capitol Earl Warren
November 22, 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson Conference room on
SAM 26000 (Air Force One) (privately, but photographed and audio recorded)[50]
Love Field, Dallas, Texas		 Sarah T. Hughes
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
January 20, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson East Portico, U.S. Capitol Earl Warren
January 20, 1969 Richard M. Nixon East Portico, U.S. Capitol Earl Warren
January 20, 1973 Richard M. Nixon East Portico, U.S. Capitol Warren E. Burger
August 9, 1974 Gerald R. Ford East Room, White House Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1977 Jimmy Carter East Portico, U.S. Capitol Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1981 Ronald Reagan West Front, U.S. Capitol Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1985 Ronald Reagan North Entrance Hall
White House (privately, but televised)		 Warren E. Burger
January 21, 1985 Ronald Reagan Rotunda, U.S. Capitol (publicly) Warren E. Burger
January 20, 1989 George H. W. Bush West Front, U.S. Capitol William Rehnquist
January 20, 1993 Bill Clinton West Front, U.S. Capitol William Rehnquist
January 20, 1997 Bill Clinton West Front, U.S. Capitol William Rehnquist
January 20, 2001 George W. Bush West Front, U.S. Capitol William Rehnquist
January 20, 2005 George W. Bush West Front, U.S. Capitol William Rehnquist
January 20, 2009 Barack Obama West Front, U.S. Capitol John G. Roberts, Jr.
January 21, 2009 Barack Obama [51] Map Room, White House (privately, but photographed and audio recorded) John G. Roberts, Jr.
ZZZDate ZZZPresident ZZZLocation ZZZAdministered by[a]
  • ^ a: Unless otherwise indicated, individual named is the Chief Justice of the United States.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnYdT1CqTc
  2. ^ a b "Wilson to Take the Oath Sunday", The New York Times (November 15, 1916), accessed 2009-01-21.
  3. ^ A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
  4. ^ Kennon, Donald (2005). "Presidential Inaugurations Past and Present". http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/40871.htm. Retrieved on 2006-12-06. 
  5. ^ Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies website: "Inauguration of President George Washington, 1789", accessed on 2009-02-16.
  6. ^ McCullough, David (1992). Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 347, p. 729. ISBN 0-671-86920-5. http://books.google.com/books?ei=s916R6HHCKLstAPfre2dBw&id=1yziNhlcQ2wC&dq=harry+truman+kissed+bible&q=kissed&pgis=1.  Harry Truman is a notable example, as he bent and kissed the Bible upon taking the oath for the first time, on April 12, 1945, as well as at his second inauguration.
  7. ^ http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=9591104
  8. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE1D9103CEE3ABC4B51DFBF66838A699FDE
  9. ^ a b c d Time Magazine, Mar. 25, 1929], accessed 2009-01-23
  10. ^ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/01/21/09/chief-justice-leads-obama-stumble-presidential-oath
  11. ^ http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/01/no-problems-with-todays-oath-at-the-supreme-court.html
  12. ^ McCullough, p. 347
  13. ^ "Lyndon B. Johnson Oath of Office, January 20, 1965". http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=g3HEglMipos&feature=related. Retrieved on 20090201. 
  14. ^ Williams, Pete (January 20, 2009). "About That Oath Flub". MSNBC. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/01/20/1751351.aspx. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Barack Obama Oath of Office (Wikimedia Commons transcript)". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_Oath_of_Office.ogg. Retrieved on 20090131. 
  16. ^ "Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake". CNN. January 21, 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/obama.oath/index.html. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. 
  17. ^ a b Obama is sworn in for second time, BBC News (accessed 22 January 2009
  18. ^ Chester A. Arthur House
  19. ^ Inauguration of Chester Arthur
  20. ^ Calvin Coolidge
  21. ^ Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), pgs. 310-315, ISBN 0837193206.
  22. ^ Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
  23. ^ New York Times
  24. ^ The Presidential Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
  25. ^ Ronald Reagan: Second Inaugural Address
  26. ^ CNN: Audio of Obama's do-over.
  27. ^ "Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake". CNN. January 21, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/obama.oath/index.html. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. 
  28. ^ "Obama Takes His Oath of Office Again". Washington Post. January 21, 2009. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/01/21/obama_takes_his_oath_of_office.html?hpid=topnews. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. 
  29. ^ http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/usc_sec_28_00000453----000-.html
  30. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE1D9103CEE3ABC4B51DFBF66838A699FDE
  31. ^ "Case 1:08-cv-02248-RBW Document 1" (PDF). www.restorethepledge.com. 2008-12-30. 25. http://www.restorethepledge.com/live/litigation/inaugural/docs/2008-12-30%20Original%20Complaint.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-02-04. "If President-elect Obama (as a black man fully aware of the vile effects that stem from a majority’s disregard of a minority’s rights, and as a Democrat fully aware of the efficacy his Republican predecessor’s “so help me God” oath additions) feels that the verbiage formulated by the Founders is so inadequate that he needs to interlard his oath with a purely religious phrase deemed unnecessary by the first twenty presidents, Plaintiffs have no objection at this time. The President, like all other individuals, has Free Exercise rights, which might permit such an alteration." 
  32. ^ "Case 1:08-cv-02248-RBW Document 13-9" (PDF). www.restorethepledge.com. 2009-01-08. 25. http://www.restorethepledge.com/live/litigation/inaugural/docs/2009-01-08%20CJ's%20Counselor's%20Declaration.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-02-04. "Before the commencement of this lawsuit, the Chief Justice instructed me to ascertain from President-Elect Obama's representatives the President-Elect's wishes concerning the administration of the oath of office at the inauguration~including his wishes concerning the inclusion of the phrase "So help me God" after the conclusion of the constitutional oath" 
  33. ^ Judiciary Act of 1789, Sec. 7. Accessed 2009-01-24.
  34. ^ Griswold, Rufus W. The Republican court, or, American society in the days of Washington. New York: D. Appleton and Company. pp. 141–142. http://books.google.com/books?id=xhsLT1NgTbwC. 
  35. ^ Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, Vol. 15, pages 404-405
  36. ^ Sacramento Daily Union, April 10, 1865.
  37. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=ArRmzsMraH8C&printsec=titlepage#PPA6,M1
  38. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=d6QfOnbV1zUC&printsec=titlepage#PPA91,M1
  39. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=xidCAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA136,M1
  40. ^ The Avalon Project : First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
  41. ^ Foster, James Mitchell. Christ the King. Boston: James H. Earle. pp. 277. http://books.google.com/books?id=7gc3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA277&lpg=PA277. 
  42. ^ Foster, James Mitchell. Reformation Principles Stated and Applied. Chicago and New York: F.H Revell. pp. 234–5. http://www.openlibrary.org/details/reformationprinc00fostrich. 
  43. ^ Official State Bible of Alabama
  44. ^ A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
  45. ^ "Inauguration of the President: Facts & Firsts". U.S. Senate. http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/. Retrieved on December 13, 2008. 
  46. ^ "President Franklin Pierce, 1853". Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/fpierce1853.htm. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. [dead link]
  47. ^ "Hoover Plans to Swear on Bible, Taking Oath". Washington Post: p. 5. February 27, 1929. 
  48. ^ The National Archives, Prologue Magazine Vol. 32 No. 4 (Winter 2000). Article "Abrupt Transition", by C.L. Arbelbide. Accessed 2009-01-28.
  49. ^ "Inauguration of the President: Facts & Firsts". U.S. Senate. http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/. Retrieved on December 13, 2008. 
  50. ^ SAM 26000, this airplane's proper designation, is now at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Officially, "Air Force One" is an air traffic control call sign for any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President, though it has informally been extended to the aircraft maintained for that purpose (including SAM 26000).
  51. ^ The oath was retaken on January 21, 2009 due to a flaw in its recitation during the previous day's inaugural ceremonies. See: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/obama.oath/index.html

[edit] External links

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