Oath of office of the President of the United States

The oath of office of the President of the United States is the oath or affirmation prescribed by the United States Constitution before the President begins the execution of the office. The wording is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8:

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"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."^[1]

President Ronald Reagan being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger on January 21, 1985.

Administration of the oath

While the Constitution does not mandate that anyone in particular should administer the presidential oath of office, it is typically administered by the Chief Justice. There have been several exceptions, however. George Washington was sworn into office during his first inauguration, on April 30, 1789, by Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston.^[2][3] William Cranch, chief judge of the U.S. Circuit Court, administered the oath to Millard Fillmore on July 10, 1850, when he became president after the death of Zachary Taylor.^[4] Upon being informed of Warren Harding's death, while visiting his family home in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as president by his father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr., a notary public.^[5][6] Most recently, Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One after John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.

Option of taking an oath or an affirmation

The Constitutional language gives the option to "affirm" instead of "swear". While the reasons for this are not documented, it may relate to certain Christians, including Quakers, who apply this scripture literally: "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation" (James 5:12, KJV).^[7] Franklin Pierce was the only president known to use the word "affirm" rather than "swear." Herbert Hoover is often listed to have used "affirm" as well, owing to his being a Quaker, but a newsreel taken of the ceremony indicates that the words used were "solemnly swear."^[8] Richard Nixon, who was also a Quaker, also swore, rather than affirm.^[9][10]

Forms of administering the oath

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

Under the first form, now in disuse, the administrator articulated 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 ..." and then requested an affirmation. At that point a response of "I do" or "I swear" completed 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."^[11] In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Chief Justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear ...",^[12] Hoover replied with a simple "I do".^[13]

Under 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. Franklin Roosevelt, in 1933, stood silent as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes recited the entire oath, then repeated that oath from beginning to end himself.^[14] By the time of Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949, the practice was for the Chief Justice to utter the oath in chunks, with the President-elect repeating those chunks, until the oath was completed.^[15]

Many times the President-elect's name is added after the "I"; for example, "I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, do ... " Lyndon B. Johnson did not add his name when swearing his first oath of office after Kennedy's death since he was never asked to say his name; there is evidence that in all other inaugurations since Franklin D. Roosevelt's first, the name of the president was added to the oath.

Use of Bibles

By convention, incoming Presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible or other book while taking the oath of office. In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with an altar Bible borrowed from the St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons lodge in New York and he kissed the Bible afterward.^[16][17] Subsequent presidents up to and including Harry Truman, followed suit.^[18] Dwight Eisenhower broke that tradition in 1953 when he said a prayer instead of kissing the Bible.^[19]

Theodore Roosevelt did not use a Bible when taking the oath in 1901.^[20] Both John Quincy Adams and Franklin Pierce ^[21] swore on a book of law, with the intention that they were swearing on the constitution.^[22] Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One.^[23] Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama each swore the oath on two Bibles.^[20]

"So help me God"

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."^[24] There is currently debate as to whether or not George Washington, the first president, added the phrase to his acceptance of the oath. No contemporary sources mention Washington as adding a religious codicil to his acceptance.^[25]

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 1865 the Sacramento Daily Union covered the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln finished his oath with "So help me God," and he kissed the bible.^[26] 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".^[11] In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Chief Justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear..."^[12] Hoover replied with a simple "I do".

A Federal lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia by Michael Newdow on December 30, 2008 contended the second, current form of administration, where both the Chief Justice and the President articulate the oath, appending "So help me God", to be a breach of the Constitutional instructions. The suit distinguishes 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."^[27]

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. After rendering the oath to President Barack Obama, Roberts prompted with a question "So help you God?", to which the President responded, "So help me God."^[28]

The first Congress explicitly prescribed the phrase "So help me God" in oaths under the Judiciary Act of 1789 for all U.S. judges and officers other than the President. It was prescribed even earlier under the various first state constitutions^[29] as well as by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.^[30][31] 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."^[32] 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.^[33]

The only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul, Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath,^[34] 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.^[35] 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.^[36] 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.^[37][38] During the speech, Lincoln stated that his oath was "registered in Heaven",^[39] 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 Presbyterian minister who advocated for an official Christian U.S. government) 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.^[40][41]

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.^[42] 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.^[43]

Given that nearly every President-elect since President Franklin D. Roosevelt has recited the codicil, it is likely that the majority of presidents-elect have uttered the phrase^[44] (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.^[45] 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.^[46]

Oath mishaps

President Barack Obama being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts for the second time, on January 21, 2009.

• 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."^[12]
• In 1929, Taft, later the Chief Justice, 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.^[12][47][48]
• 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, apparently mistaken about the meaning of Truman's middle initial (which is not an abbreviation but rather the whole middle name in itself), began reading the oath by saying "I, Harry Shipp Truman...", Truman responded: "I, Harry S Truman,..."^[49]
• In 1965, Chief Justice Earl Warren prompted Lyndon Johnson to say, "the Office of the Presidency of the United States".^[50]
• 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."^[51][52] The oath was re-administered the next day by Roberts at the White House.^[53][54]

List of oath takings

From 1789 through 2013, the presidential oath of office has been administered by 15 Chief Justices, one Associate Justice, three federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public. The oath has been taken on 73 occasions by 43 people; seven have repeated their oath of office (for differing reasons).

Date	President	Type	Administered by	Location
April 30, 1789 (Thursday)	George Washington	Public	Robert Livingston Chancellor of New York	Balcony of Federal Hall New York, New York
March 4, 1793 (Monday)		Public	William Cushing Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court	Senate Chamber, Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 4, 1797 (Saturday)	John Adams	Public	Oliver Ellsworth Chief Justice of the United States[lower-alpha 1]	House Chamber, Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 4, 1801 (Wednesday)	Thomas Jefferson	Public	John Marshall Chief Justice of the United States	Senate Chamber, United States Capitol Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1805 (Monday)		Public		Senate Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1809 (Saturday)	James Madison	Public		House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1813 (Thursday)		Public		House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1817 (Tuesday)	James Monroe	Public		In front of Old Brick Capitol Washington, D.C.
March 5, 1821 (Monday)		Public		House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1825 (Friday)	John Quincy Adams	Public		House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1829 (Wednesday)	Andrew Jackson	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1833 (Monday)		Public		House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1837 (Saturday)	Martin Van Buren	Public	Roger B. Taney Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1841 (Thursday)	William H. Harrison	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
April 6, 1841[lower-alpha 2] (Tuesday)	John Tyler	Private	William Cranch Chief Judge, U.S. Circuit Court of the District of Columbia	Brown's Hotel Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1845 (Tuesday)	James K. Polk	Public	Roger B. Taney Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 5, 1849 (Monday)	Zachary Taylor	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
July 10, 1850 (Wednesday)	Millard Fillmore	Public	William Cranch Chief Judge, U.S. Circuit Court of the District of Columbia	House Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1853 (Friday)	Franklin Pierce[lower-alpha 3]	Public	Roger B. Taney Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1857 (Wednesday)	James Buchanan	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1861 (Monday)	Abraham Lincoln	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1865 (Saturday)		Public	Salmon P. Chase Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
April 15, 1865 (Saturday)	Andrew Johnson	Private		Kirkwood Hotel Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1869 (Thursday)	Ulysses S. Grant	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1873 (Tuesday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 3, 1877[56] (Saturday)	Rutherford B. Hayes	Private	Morrison R. Waite Chief Justice of the United States	Red Room, White House
March 5, 1877 (Monday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1881 (Friday)	James A. Garfield	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
September 20, 1881 (Tuesday)	Chester A. Arthur	Private	John R. Brady Judge, New York Supreme Court	Front parlor, Arthur Residence New York, New York[57]
September 22, 1881 (Thursday)		Public	Morrison R. Waite Chief Justice of the United States	The Vice President's Room, United States Capitol[58]
March 4, 1885 (Wednesday)	Grover Cleveland	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1889 (Monday)	Benjamin Harrison	Public	Melville W. Fuller Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1893 (Saturday)	Grover Cleveland	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1897 (Thursday)	William McKinley	Public		Front of Original Senate Wing, United States Capitol
March 4, 1901 (Monday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
September 14, 1901 (Saturday)	Theodore Roosevelt	Private	John R. Hazel Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York	Front Library, Ansley Wilcox House Buffalo, New York
March 4, 1905 (Saturday)		Public	Melville W. Fuller Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1909 (Thursday)	William Howard Taft	Public		Senate Chamber, United States Capitol
March 4, 1913 (Tuesday)	Woodrow Wilson	Public	Edward D. White Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1917[59] (Sunday)[lower-alpha 4]		Private		The President's Room, United States Capitol
March 5, 1917 (Monday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1921 (Friday)	Warren G. Harding	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
August 3, 1923 (Friday)	Calvin Coolidge	Private	John C. Coolidge[lower-alpha 5] Notary Public	Parlor, John Coolidge Residence Plymouth, Vermont[60]
August 21, 1923[lower-alpha 6] (Tuesday)		Private	Adolph A. Hoehling, Jr.[62] Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia	Willard Hotel Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1925[lower-alpha 7] (Wednesday)		Public	William H. Taft[lower-alpha 8] Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1929 (Monday)	Herbert Hoover	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
March 4, 1933 (Saturday)	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Public	Charles E. Hughes Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1937 (Wednesday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1941 (Monday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1945[lower-alpha 9] (Saturday)		Public	Harlan F. Stone Chief Justice of the United States	South Portico, White House
April 12, 1945 (Thursday)	Harry S. Truman	Private		Cabinet Room, White House
January 20, 1949[lower-alpha 10] (Thursday)		Public	Frederick M. Vinson Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1953 (Tuesday)	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1957 (Sunday)		Private	Earl Warren Chief Justice of the United States	East Room, White House
January 21, 1957 (Monday)		Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1961[lower-alpha 11] (Friday)	John F. Kennedy	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
November 22, 1963 (Friday)	Lyndon B. Johnson	Private	Sarah T. Hughes[lower-alpha 12] Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas	Conference Room, Air Force One, Love Field Dallas, Texas
January 20, 1965 (Wednesday)		Public	Earl Warren Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1969 (Monday)	Richard Nixon	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1973 (Saturday)		Public	Warren E. Burger Chief Justice of the United States	East Portico, United States Capitol
August 9, 1974 (Friday)	Gerald Ford	Private		East Room, White House
January 20, 1977 (Thursday)	Jimmy Carter	Public		East Portico, United States Capitol
January 20, 1981 (Tuesday)	Ronald Reagan	Public		West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 1985 (Sunday)		Private		Entrance Hall, White House
January 21, 1985[65] (Monday)		Public		United States Capitol rotunda
January 20, 1989 (Friday)	George H. W. Bush	Public	William Rehnquist Chief Justice of the United States	West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 1993 (Wednesday)	Bill Clinton	Public		West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 1997[lower-alpha 13] (Monday)		Public		West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 2001 (Saturday)	George W. Bush	Public		West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 2005 (Thursday)		Public		West Front, United States Capitol
January 20, 2009 (Tuesday)	Barack Obama	Public	John G. Roberts Chief Justice of the United States	West Front, United States Capitol
January 21, 2009[66] (Wednesday)[lower-alpha 14]		Private		Map Room, White House
January 20, 2013 (Sunday)		Private		Blue Room, White House[68]
January 21, 2013[lower-alpha 15] (Monday)		Public		West Front, United States Capitol
Date	President	Type	Administered by	Location

Notes

1. First time oath is administered by a Chief Justice of the United States.^[55]
2. First time oath is administered to a person acceding to the presidency following the death of his predecessor.
3. Only person known to have used "Affirm" rather than "Swear".
4. Oath administered on a Sunday for the first time.
5. Only time oath has been administered by a family member.
6. Oath retaken as there was some doubt whether an oath administered by a public notary (Coolidge's father) was valid.^[61]
7. Ceremony broadcast on radio for first time.^[63]
8. Only former president to administer the oath.
9. On January 20, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to take the oath of office four times.^[64]
10. Ceremony broadcast on television for first time.^[44]
11. Ceremony televised in color for first time.^[63]
12. Oath administered by a woman for first time.
13. Ceremony live-streamed on the internet for first time.^[63]
14. Chief Justice Roberts administered the presidential oath a second time to Barack Obama "out of an abundance of caution," according to the white House, because, when the oath was administered the first time in the public inauguration ceremony, the word "faithfully" was misplaced.^[67]
15. On January 21, 2013, Barack Obama became the second president to take the oath of office four times.^[64]

See also

• United States presidential inauguration
• Presidential Succession Act

References

1. "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, Centennial Edition, Interim Edition: Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 26, 2013" (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2013. p. 13.
2. "Presidential Election of 1789". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
3. "George Washington's Inaugural Address". The National Archives. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
4. "President Millard Fillmore, 1850". Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
5. Glenn D. Kittler, Hail to the Chief!: The Inauguration Days of our Presidents, 1965, page 167
6. Porter H. Dale, The Calvin Coolidge Inauguration Revisited: An Eyewitness Account by Congressman Porter H. Dale, republished in Vermont History magazine, 1994, Volume 62, pages 214-222
7. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99539230
8. Bendat, Jim (2012). Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, 1789-2013. iUniverse. pp. xi, 28, 36. ISBN 978-1-935278-47-4.
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ7oO2G4Brg
10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgFI5Q0kC8A
11. "The New Administration; President Arthur Formally Inaugurated". The New York Times. September 23, 1881.
12. Time Magazine, Mar. 25, 1929]. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctAKm9G8ji8
14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHoSUBzO0f0
15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR-rjy2FqFw
16. http://www.stjohns1.org/portal/gwib "St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons"
17. Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies website: "Inauguration of President George Washington, 1789". Retrieved 2009-02-16.
18. McCullough, David (1992). Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 347, p. 729. ISBN 0-671-86920-5. 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.
19. "Inaugural fun facts - WTOL.com - Toledo's News Leader |". WTOL.com. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
20. "Bibles Used in Inaugural Ceremonies". Retrieved 24 March 2015.
21. Wallner (2004), pp. 249–55
22. Kennon, Donald (2005). "Presidential Inaugurations Past and Present". Retrieved 2006-12-06.
23. Glass, Andrew J. (February 26, 1967). "Catholic Church Missal, Not Bible, Used by Johnson for Oath at Dallas" (PDF). The Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
24. "United States Code: Title 28,453. Oaths of justices and judges | LII / Legal Information Institute". Law.cornell.edu. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
25. Peter R. Henriques, “So Help Me God”: A George Washington Myth that Should Be Discarded, hnn.us (1-12-2009).
26. Sacramento Daily Union, April 10, 1865; page 8, column 6
27. "Case 1:08-cv-02248-RBW Document 1" (PDF). www.restorethepledge.com. 2008-12-30. p. 25. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
28. "Case 1:08-cv-02248-RBW Document 13-9" (PDF). www.restorethepledge.com. 2009-01-08. p. 25. Retrieved 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
29. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/con1777.htm
30. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/intelligence/intelltech.html
31. http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/oaths.html
32. Judiciary Act of 1789, Sec. 7. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
33. Griswold, Rufus W (1855) [1854]. The Republican court, or, American society in the days of Washington. New York: D. Appleton and Company. pp. 141–142.
34. Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, Vol. 15, pages 404-405
35. Sacramento Daily Union, April 10, 1865; page 8, column 6.
36. Memorial record of the nation's ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. 1865. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
37. Recollections of President Lincoln ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
38. Anecdotal Lincoln - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
39. The Avalon Project : First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
40. Foster, James Mitchell (1894) [1894]. Christ the King. Boston: James H. Earle. p. 277. In fact, Milligan did write to Lincoln, but his request was not that Lincoln add "so help me God" to the Oath, but rather that the name of Jesus Christ be added to the U.S. Constitution
41. Foster, James Mitchell (1890). Reformation Principles Stated and Applied. Chicago and New York: F.H Revell. pp. 234–5.
42. Official State Bible of Alabama
43. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
44. "Inauguration of the President: Facts & Firsts". U.S. Senate. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
45. "President Franklin Pierce, 1853". Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Archived from the original on January 31, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
46. "Hoover Plans to Swear on Bible, Taking Oath". Washington Post. February 27, 1929. p. 5.
47. Agence France-Presse (2009-01-21). "Chief justice leads Obama to stumble presidential oath | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
48. "No Problems With Today's Oath at the Supreme Court - The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times". Legaltimes.typepad.com. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
49. McCullough, p. 347
50. "Lyndon B. Johnson Oath of Office, January 20, 1965". Retrieved 2009-02-01.
51. Williams, Pete (January 20, 2009). "About That Oath Flub". MSNBC. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
52. File:Barack Obama Oath of Office.ogg
53. "Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake". CNN. January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
54. Obama is sworn in for second time, BBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
55. "Inauguration of President John Adams, 1797". Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
56. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
57. Chester A. Arthur House
58. Inauguration of Chester Arthur
59. New York Times
60. Calvin Coolidge
61. Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), pgs. 310-315, ISBN 0-8371-9320-6.
62. The National Archives, Prologue Magazine Vol. 32 No. 4 (Winter 2000). Article "Abrupt Transition", by C.L. Arbelbide. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
63. Wolly, Brian (December 17, 2008). "Inaugural Firsts". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
64. "Barack Obama joins FDR in 'four oath club'". The Daily Telegraph. January 21, 2013.
65. Ronald Reagan: Second Inaugural Address
66. "Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake". CNN. January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
67. "Obama Takes His Oath of Office Again". Washington Post. January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
68. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-private-oath-brief-family-195938699--election.html

External links

	"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)
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	"President Obama Re-Takes Oath" Obama retakes 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).
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• Forrest Church, Ph.D., "Did George Washington Say 'So Help Me God'?"
• Peter R. Henriques, "'So Help Me God': A George Washington Myth that Should Be Discarded", History News Network, online, January 12, 2009
• Video on YouTube Video of inaugurations from Franklin D. Roosevelt - Barack H. Obama