The oath of office of the vice president of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the vice president of the United States takes upon assuming the vice-presidency but before beginning the execution of the office. It is the same oath that members of the United States Congress and members of the president's cabinet take upon entering office.
Before the president-elect takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day, the vice president-elect will step forward on the inaugural platform and repeat the oath of office to ensure that the vice president can potentially be elevated to president if an unforeseen event (death, illness, etc.) caused the president-elect to not be able to assume the office. Although the United States Constitution—Article II, Section One, Clause 8—specifically sets forth the oath required by incoming presidents, it does not do so for incoming vice presidents. Instead, Article VI, Clause 3 provides that "all ... Officers ... of the United States ... shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution".[1] Pursuant to Article VI, the 1st United States Congress passed the Oath Administration Act (that remains in effect) which provides that "...the said oath or affirmation ... [required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States] … shall be administered to [the President of the Senate]".[2] Since 1937, Inauguration Day has been January 20 (was March 4 previously), a change brought about by the 20th amendment to the Constitution, which had been ratified four years earlier. The vice president's swearing-in ceremony also moved that year, from the Senate chamber inside the Capitol, to the presidential inaugural platform outside the building.[3]
The oath is as follows:
The 1st Congress passed an oath act in May 1789, authorizing only U.S. senators to administer the oath to the vice president (who serves as the president of the Senate). Later that year, legislation passed that allowed courts to administer all oaths and affirmations. Since 1789, the oath has been changed several times by Congress. The present oath repeated by the vice president, senators, representatives, and other government officers has been in use since 1884.[3]
When the vice presidency was established in 1789, and for the century that followed, the vice president was sworn in on the same date as the president, March 4, but at a separate location, typically in the United States Senate, where the vice president holds the office of President of the Senate. Up until the middle of the 20th century, the vice president-elect nearly always would be sworn in by the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. Senate which was the outgoing vice president or the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. Sometimes, although not always, a short address would be given by the new vice president to the Senate.
The oath of office has been administered most by the president pro tempore of the United States Senate (last in 1925) for a total of 20 times. Others to give the oath of office include the outgoing vice president (last in 1945) 12 times, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (last in 2021) 10 times, the chief justice of the United States (last in 2001) 6 times, U.S. senators that are not President Pro Tempore of the Senate (last in 1969) 5 times, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives (last in 2005) 4 times, a U.S. judge twice, and a U.S. consul once with one time being unrecorded. Former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger gave the oath the most times with three.
Of the 59 times the oath of office has been administered, 47 times have been at some location in the United States Capitol. The White House has seen 3 oaths of office, and Congress Hall in Philadelphia twice. The following locations all had the oath administered once in that location: Federal Hall, Old Brick Capitol, Havana, Cuba, a private residence in New York, and the Number One Observatory Circle. Reflecting the relative lack of importance of the office in the early 19th century, there are two instances where the location of the vice president's oath of office is unknown.
Due to Vice President-elect William R. King's deteriorating health, a bill signed on March 3, 1853, the last day of the 32nd United States Congress, allowed for the oath to be administered to him as he rested in Havana, Cuba. To date, King's swearing-in as vice president is the only occasion that either a vice presidential or presidential oath of office has been administered on foreign soil.
| Date | Vice President | Location | Administered by | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 3, 1789 (Term began April 21) | 1st | John Langdon President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |||
| December 2, 1793 (Term began March 4) | John Adams | 2nd | Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | John Langdon President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1797 | 3rd | Congress Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | William Bingham President pro tempore of the United States Senate | ||
| March 4, 1801 | 4th | James Hillhouse President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |||
| March 4, 1805 | George Clinton | 5th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | John Marshall Chief Justice of the United States | |
| March 4, 1809 | George Clinton | 6th | Unknown with no record given in the Journal of the Senate of the United States | Unknown | |
| May 24, 1813 (Term began March 4) | Elbridge Gerry | 7th | Appeared before the U.S. Senate on May 24, 1813, with a document stating the Vice President already "having taken the oath as prescribed by law" | John Davis United States District Court Judge | |
| March 4, 1817 | Daniel D. Tompkins | 8th | Senate Chamber, Old Brick Capitol | John Gaillard President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 3, 1821 (Term began March 4) | Daniel D. Tompkins | 9th | Tompkins' Residence, Tompkinsville, Staten Island | William P. Van Ness United States District Court Judge | |
| March 4, 1825 | John C. Calhoun | 10th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Andrew Jackson U.S. Senator | |
| March 4, 1829 | John C. Calhoun | 11th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Samuel Smith President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1833 | Martin Van Buren | 12th | House Chamber, United States Capitol | John Marshall Chief Justice of the United States | |
| March 4, 1837 | Richard Mentor Johnson | 13th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | William R. King President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1841 | John Tyler | 14th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | William R. King President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1845 | George M. Dallas | 15th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Willie Person Mangum President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| Millard Fillmore | 16th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | David Rice Atchison President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 24, 1853 (Term began March 4) | William R. King | 17th | Havana, Spanish Cuba | William L. Sharkey U.S. Consul | |
| March 4, 1857 | John C. Breckinridge | 18th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | James Murray Mason President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 2, 1861[4] (Term began March 4) | Hannibal Hamlin | 19th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | John C. Breckinridge Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1865 | Andrew Johnson | 20th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Hannibal Hamlin Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1869 | Schuyler Colfax | 21st | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Benjamin F. Wade President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1873 | Henry Wilson | 22nd | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Schuyler Colfax Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1877 | William A. Wheeler | 23rd | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Thomas W. Ferry President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1881 | Chester A. Arthur | 24th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | William A. Wheeler Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1885 | Thomas A. Hendricks | 25th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | George F. Edmunds President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1889 | Levi P. Morton | 26th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | John J. Ingalls President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1893 | Adlai Stevenson | 27th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Levi P. Morton Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1897 | Garret Hobart | 28th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Adlai Stevenson Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1901 | Theodore Roosevelt | 29th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | William P. Frye President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1905 | Charles W. Fairbanks | 30th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | William P. Frye President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1909 | James S. Sherman | 31st | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Charles W. Fairbanks Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1913 | Thomas R. Marshall | 32nd | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Jacob H. Gallinger President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1917 | Thomas R. Marshall | 33rd | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Willard Saulsbury Jr. President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1921 | Calvin Coolidge | 34th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Thomas R. Marshall Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1925 | Charles G. Dawes | 35th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Albert B. Cummins President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| March 4, 1929 | Charles Curtis | 36th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Charles G. Dawes Vice President of the United States | |
| March 4, 1933 | John Nance Garner | 37th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Charles Curtis Vice President of the United States | |
| January 20, 1937 | John Nance Garner | 38th | United States Capitol | Joseph Taylor Robinson U.S. Senator, Senate Majority Leader | |
| January 20, 1941 | Henry A. Wallace | 39th | United States Capitol | John Nance Garner Vice President of the United States | |
| January 20, 1945 | Harry S. Truman | 40th | White House | Henry A. Wallace Vice President of the United States | |
| January 20, 1949 | Alben W. Barkley | 41st | United States Capitol | Stanley Forman Reed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| January 20, 1953 | Richard Nixon | 42nd | United States Capitol | William F. Knowland U.S. Senator | |
| Richard Nixon | 43rd | White House | William F. Knowland U.S. Senator, Senate Minority Leader | |
| January 20, 1961 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 44th | United States Capitol | Sam Rayburn Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| January 20, 1965 | Hubert Humphrey | 45th | United States Capitol | John William McCormack Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| January 20, 1969 | Spiro Agnew | 46th | United States Capitol | Everett Dirksen U.S. Senator, Senate Minority Leader | |
| January 20, 1973 | Spiro Agnew | 47th | United States Capitol | Warren E. Burger Chief Justice of the United States | |
| December 6, 1973 | Gerald Ford | 48th | House of Representatives Chamber, United States Capitol | Warren E. Burger Chief Justice of the United States | |
| December 19, 1974 | Nelson Rockefeller | 49th | Senate Chamber, United States Capitol | Warren E. Burger Chief Justice of the United States | |
| January 20, 1977 | Walter Mondale | 50th | United States Capitol | Tip O'Neill Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| January 20, 1981 | George H. W. Bush | 51st | United States Capitol | Potter Stewart Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| George H.W. Bush | 52nd | White House | Potter Stewart Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| January 20, 1989 | 53rd | United States Capitol | Sandra Day O'Connor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | ||
| January 20, 1993 | 54th | United States Capitol | Byron White Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | ||
| January 20, 1997 | Al Gore | 55th | United States Capitol | Ruth Bader Ginsburg Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| January 20, 2001 | 56th | United States Capitol | William Rehnquist Chief Justice of the United States | ||
| January 20, 2005 | Dick Cheney | 57th | United States Capitol | Dennis Hastert Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| January 20, 2009 | 58th | United States Capitol | John Paul Stevens Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | ||
| Joe Biden | 59th | Number One Observatory Circle | Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| January 20, 2017 | Mike Pence | 60th | United States Capitol | Clarence Thomas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| January 20, 2021 | 61st | United States Capitol | Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States |