Oath of office of the president of the United States explained

The oath of office of the president of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the president of the United States takes upon assuming office. The wording of the oath is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8, of the United States Constitution, and a new president must take it before exercising or carrying out any official powers or duties.

This clause is one of three oath or affirmation clauses in the Constitution, but it is the only one that actually specifies the words that must be spoken. Article I, Section 3 requires Senators, when sitting to try impeachments, to be "on Oath or Affirmation." Article VI, Clause 3, similarly requires the persons specified therein to "be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution." The presidential oath requires much more than that general oath of allegiance and fidelity. This clause enjoins the new president to swear or affirm: "I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."[1]

Ceremony

A newly elected or re-elected president of the United States begins their four-year term of office at noon on the twentieth day of January following the election, and, by tradition, takes the oath of office during an inauguration on that date; prior to 1937 the president's term of office began on March 4.[2] If January 20 falls on a Sunday, the president will be sworn in that day by taking the oath privately, but will then re-take the oath in a public ceremony the next day, on January 21.

Nine vice presidents have succeeded to the presidency upon the death or resignation of the president. In these situations the oath of office was administered to the new president as quickly as possible, as doing so allowed the presidency to continue uninterrupted.[3]

Administration

While the Constitution does not mandate that anyone in particular should administer the presidential oath of office, it has been administered by the chief justice beginning with John Adams, except following the death of a sitting president. George Washington was sworn into office during his first inauguration, on April 30, 1789, by Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston.[4] [5] 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.[6] 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.[7] [8] 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; the only time a woman has administered the oath of office. Overall, the presidential oath has been administered by 15 chief justices (one of whom—William Howard Taft—was also a former president), one associate justice, four federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public.

Option of 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).[9] Franklin Pierce is the only president known to have used 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."[10] Richard Nixon, who was also a Quaker, swore, rather than affirmed.[11] [12]

Forms

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."[13] In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Chief Justice William H. Taft began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear ...", Hoover replied with a simple "I do."[14]

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.[15] By the time of Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949, the practice was for the chief justice to utter the oath in phrases, with the president repeating those phrases, until the oath was completed.[16]

Use of Bibles

By convention, incoming presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible 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.[17] [18] Subsequent presidents up to and including Harry S. Truman, followed suit.[19] Dwight D. Eisenhower said a prayer in the end instead of kissing the Bible in 1953.[20]

Thomas Jefferson and Calvin Coolidge did not use a Bible in their oath-taking ceremonies.[21] Theodore Roosevelt did not use the Bible when taking the oath in 1901,[22] nor did John Quincy Adams, who swore on a book of law, with the intention that he was swearing on the constitution.[23] Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in at his first inauguration on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One, believing it was a Bible, in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy; he swore in on a Bible at his second inauguration.[24] Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump each swore the oath on two Bibles. The large leather-bound Bible used by Joe Biden had been in the Biden family since 1893.[25]

"So help me God"

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[26] as well as by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.[27] [28] 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."[29] 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, 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.

There is currently debate as to whether or not George Washington, the first president, added the phrase to his acceptance of the oath.[30] 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.[31] The only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul, Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath,[32] without reference to Washington's adding "So help me God" 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 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.[33] The Daily Union account is embellished in several ways, and other newspaper accounts published nearer to the ceremony do not mention the phrase (but they do not quote the oath in any form).[34] 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." In 1929, Time magazine reported that the chief justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear ..." Hoover replied with a simple "I do."

A contemporaneous newspaper account of Lincoln's 1865 inauguration states that Lincoln appended the phrase "So help me God" to the oath. 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.[35] 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.[36] [37] During the speech, Lincoln stated that his oath was "registered in Heaven,"[38] 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.[39] [40]

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.[41] Given that nearly every president-elect since President Franklin D. Roosevelt has recited the additional phrase, it is likely that the majority of presidents-elect have uttered it.[42]

Mishaps

List of ceremonies

Since the office of President of the United States came into existence in 1789 there have been 59 public swearing-in ceremonies to mark the commencement of a new four-year presidential term, plus an additional nine marking the start of a partial presidential term following the intra-term death or resignation of an incumbent president. With the 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden, the presidential oath has been taken 76 different times by 45 persons. This numerical discrepancy results chiefly from two factors: a president must take the oath at the beginning of each term of office, and, because Inauguration Day has sometimes fallen on a Sunday, five presidents have taken the oath privately before the public inauguration ceremony. In addition, three have repeated the oath as a precaution against potential later constitutional challenges.[52]

Date Type Event Location Oath administered by

(Thursday) 		Public

(Monday) 		Public

(Saturday) 		Public House Chamber,
Congress Hall

(Wednesday) 		Public

(Monday) 		Public Senate Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public House Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Thursday) 		Public House Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public

(Monday) 		Public House Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public House Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public House Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Thursday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Private

(Tuesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public

(Friday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Private Kirkwood House Hotel,
Washington, D.C.

(Thursday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol
[53]
(Saturday) 		Private

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol
[54]
(Tuesday) 		Private Chester A. Arthur Home,
New York, New York

(Thursday) 		Public The Vice President's Room,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Thursday) 		Public Front of original Senate Wing
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Private

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Thursday) 		Public Senate Chamber,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol
[55]
(Sunday) 		Private The President's Room,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol
[56]
(Friday) 		Private
Vermont justice of the peace

(Tuesday) 		Private Willard Hotel
Washington, D.C.

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public

(Thursday) 		Private Cabinet Room,
White House

(Thursday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Sunday) 		Private East Room,
White House

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Private

(Wednesday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public East Room,
White House

(Thursday) 		Public East Portico,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Sunday) 		Private Entrance Hall,
White House

(Monday) 		Public Rotunda,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Monday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Saturday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Thursday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Tuesday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol
[57]
(Wednesday) 		Private Map Room,
White House
[58]
(Sunday) 		Private Blue Room,
White House

(Monday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Friday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol

(Wednesday) 		Public West Front,
U.S. Capitol
ZZZDate ZZZType ZZZEvent ZZZLocation ZZZOath administered by

Notes

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kesavan. Vasan. Essays on Article II: Oath of Office. The Heritage Foundation. July 20, 2016.
  2. Web site: Twentieth Amendment. Larson. Edward J.. Shesol. Jeff. Interactive Constitution. National Constitution Center. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. August 1, 2019.
  3. Abrupt Transition. Arbelbide. C. L.. Prologue. Winter 2000. 32. 4. National Archives. Washington, D.C.. August 1, 2019.
  4. Web site: Presidential Election of 1789. George Washington's Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. October 21, 2015.
  5. Web site: George Washington's Inaugural Address . The National Archives . October 4, 2015.
  6. Web site: President Millard Fillmore, 1850 . Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies . 2009-01-23.
  7. Glenn D. Kittler, Hail to the Chief!: The Inauguration Days of our Presidents, 1965, page 167.
  8. Porter H. Dale, "The Calvin Coolidge Inauguration Revisited: An Eyewitness Account by Congressman Porter H. Dale", Vermont History, 1994, Volume 62, pp. 214–222.
  9. Web site: Oath Of Office: To Swear Or To Affirm. January 18, 2009. NPR.org.
  10. Book: Bendat, Jim . Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, 1789–2013 . iUniverse . 2012 . xi, 28, 36 . 978-1-935278-47-4.
  11. Web site: Swallow . Wendy . Quaker Presidents and the Oath of Office . July 1, 2016 . Reno Friends Quaker Meeting . renofriends.org . December 22, 2021.
  12. YouTube. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/Q0OCW3cWocQ . 2021-12-22 . live.
  13. News: The New Administration; President Arthur Formally Inaugurated . The New York Times . September 23, 1881.
  14. Herbert Hoover Takes the Oath of Office. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/ctAKm9G8ji8 . 2021-12-22 . live. February 6, 2009. YouTube.
  15. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Oath of office March 4th, 1933. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/OHoSUBzO0f0 . 2021-12-22 . live. June 19, 2007. YouTube.
  16. Harry S. Truman – Oath of office January 20th, 1949. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/MR-rjy2FqFw . 2021-12-22 . live. June 19, 2007. YouTube.
  17. http://www.stjohns1.org/portal/gwib "St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons".
  18. Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies website: "Inauguration of President George Washington, 1789" . Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  19. Book: McCullough, David . David McCullough . Truman. 1992. Simon and Schuster. New York. 0-671-86920-5. 347, 729. Truman (book) . 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.
  20. Web site: Inaugural fun facts . Toledo, OH . WTOL.com . 2010-08-07.
  21. Book: Catholic Church Missal Not Bible Used By Johnson For Oath At Dallas, Andrew J. Glass, Washington Post, February 26 1967 . English.
  22. Web site: Bibles Used in Inaugural Ceremonies. March 24, 2015. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20150925112209/http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/bibles. September 25, 2015.
  23. Web site: Kennon. Donald. 2005. Presidential Inaugurations Past and Present. https://web.archive.org/web/20090130032421/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/jqadams1825.cfm. dead. 2009-01-30. 2009-01-30.
  24. News: Glass, Andrew J.. Catholic Church Missal, Not Bible, Used by Johnson for Oath at Dallas. The Washington Post. February 26, 1967. June 15, 2014.
  25. Web site: The significance of the Bible Joe Biden is using on Inauguration Day . Schumaker . Erin . January 20, 2021 . abcnews.go.com . ABC News Network . January 21, 2021.
  26. Web site: Georgia Constitution of 1777 . GeorgiaInfo . University of Georgia Libraries . 2012-11-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121114004206/http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/con1777.htm . 2012-11-14 .
  27. Web site: Intelligence in the War of Independence . December 26, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081210140354/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/intelligence/intelltech.html . December 10, 2008 . Central Intelligence Agency .
  28. Web site: Oaths of Enlistment and Oaths of Office. U.S. Army Center of Military History. 31 March 2018. 10 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180210024815/https://history.army.mil/html/faq/oaths.html. dead.
  29. http://www.constitution.org/uslaw/judiciary_1789.htm Judiciary Act of 1789
  30. Peter R. Henriques, "'So Help Me God': A George Washington Myth that Should Be Discarded". History Bytes News Network (January 12, 2009).
  31. Book: Griswold, Rufus W.. The Republican court, or, American society in the days of Washington. 1854. D. Appleton and Company. New York. 141–142. 1855.
  32. Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, Vol. 15, pp. 404–405.
  33. News: Letters from Washington: Inauguration Day. Sacramento Daily Union. April 10, 1865. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8. December 18, 2018.
  34. News: The New York herald. [volume], March 05, 1865, Image 1 ]. New York Herald . 6 March 1865 . Library of Congress, Chronicling America . September 25, 2019.
  35. Book: Memorial record of the nation's tribute to Abraham Lincoln. Benjamin Franklin Morris. W. H. & O. H. Morrison . 2010-08-07. 1865.
  36. Book: Chittenden, Lucius Eugene. Recollections of President Lincoln and his Administration. Harper & Brothers . 1904 . 2010-08-07.
  37. Book: Anecdotal Lincoln . Peter Selby. Thompson & Thomas . 1900 . 2010-08-07.
  38. Web site: First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln. The Avalon Project . Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University.
  39. Book: Foster, James Mitchell . Christ the King . James H. Earle . 1894 . Boston . 277 . 1894. 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. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/P?mal:6:./temp/~ammem_h0u9::
  40. Book: Foster, James Mitchell. Reformation Principles Stated and Applied. F. H. Revell. Chicago and New York. 234–235. 1890.
  41. Web site: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875.
  42. Web site: Inauguration of the President: Facts & Firsts. U.S. Senate. December 13, 2008. January 10, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090110193018/http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/. dead.
  43. https://web.archive.org/web/20090203100459/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,846311,00.html Time Magazine
  44. Web site: Agence France-Presse . Chief justice leads Obama to stumble presidential oath . ABS-CBN News . 2009-01-21 . 2010-08-07.
  45. Web site: No Problems With Today's Oath at the Supreme Court – The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times . Legaltimes.typepad.com . 2009-01-21 . 2010-08-07.
  46. McCullough, p. 347.
  47. Web site: Lyndon B. Johnson Oath of Office, January 20, 1965. YouTube. 2009-02-01.
  48. News: Pete. Williams. About That Oath Flub. MSNBC. January 20, 2009. January 21, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090121194437/http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/01/20/1751351.aspx. January 21, 2009.
  49. [:File:Barack Obama Oath of Office.ogg]
  50. News: Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake. CNN. January 21, 2013. January 21, 2009.
  51. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7843881.stm Obama is Sworn in for Second Time
  52. Web site: Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. Architect of the Capitol. January 22, 2017.
  53. Web site: Spiegel Grove: Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. February 5, 2017.
  54. Web site: Chester A. Arthur House. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. February 5, 2017.
  55. News: Wilson to Take Oath Sunday: First Swearing Into Office on March 4 Will Be Repeated the Following Day. November 15, 1916. The New York Times. February 5, 2017.
  56. Arbelbide. C. L.. Winter 2000. 32. 4. Abrupt Transition. Prologue. The National Archives. February 5, 2017.
  57. News: Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake. CNN. January 21, 2009. January 21, 2009.
  58. Web site: Obama to take private oath in brief family service.

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