President Barack Obama Retakes The Presidential Oath Of Office
President Barack Obama summoned Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. to the White House earlier this evening in order to retake the presidential oath of office that Chief Justice Roberts flubbed at yesterday’s swearing in ceremony. As you may recall, it appeared that Obama fumbled the words of the presidential oath of office but it turned out that it was Roberts who made the mistake. In order to ensure that his presidency would not have any sort of controversy (no matter how minute) from the start, Obama thought it would be prudent to retake the oath of office “out of an abundance of caution”:
President Obama retook his oath of office Wednesday after Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed while delivering it at Tuesday’s inauguration. The second oath — also administered by Roberts — took place at 7:35 p.m. Wednesday in the White House’s Map Room. Roberts asked Obama whether he was ready. “I am, and we’re going to do it very slowly,” Obama replied. The do-over was aimed at dispelling any confusion that might arise from Tuesday’s take — in which “faithfully” was said out of sequence — and erase any question that Obama is legally the president. However, per the Constitution, Obama became president at noon Tuesday without taking the oath. “We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday,” White House counsel Greg Craig said Wednesday in a written statement. “But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time,” the statement read. On Tuesday, Roberts, apparently working without a copy of the oath handy on the Capitol steps, started out by reciting a six-word phrase, but Obama broke in halfway through and repeated the first three. That seemed to throw the chief justice off stride, and he proceeded to mix up the order of the words in the next phrase.
The Constitution sets out the language that should be used in the oath: “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.”
Roberts moved the word “faithfully” back nine spots, and used “to” instead of “of.” That threw the president off base, and he smiled and paused to collect his thoughts, then decided to follow Roberts’ lead. But the chief justice at the same time attempted to correct himself. Here’s how Tuesday’s oath went:
Roberts: … that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully …
Obama: … that I will execute …
Roberts: … the off — faithfully the pres — the office of president of the United States …
Obama (at the same time): … the office of president of the United States faithfully …
The two got the rest correct, including the nonobligatory “So help you God?” “So help me God.” Reporters, bloggers and others weighed in on the flub. The New York Post offered this headline: “Roberts is the Oaf of Office.” A Washington Post reader complained in a letter to the editor: “What could have been a moment for the ages was marred by Mr. Roberts’ thoughtlessness. News outlets will report that the first words of our new president were “confused.” Whether through design or an amazing lack of preparation, Justice Roberts’s behavior was a disgrace.” And Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said: “We’re wondering here whether or not Barack Obama in fact is the president of the United States. They had a kind of garbled oath. It’s just conceivable that this will end up going to the courts.” In a congressional luncheon after Tuesday’s swear-in, Roberts and Obama exchanged words, and the chief justice appeared to tell the president, “It was my fault.” Before Wednesday’s do-over at the White House, Obama, waiting on a couch, joked that “we decided it was so much fun … ” After a flawless recitation, Roberts smiled and said, “Congratulations again.” “Thank you, sir,” the president replied. After a smattering of applause, Obama quipped that “the bad news for the [press] pool is there’s 12 more balls.” Roberts has made no public comment on becoming tongue-tied Tuesday.
LOL! Now that President Obama is the boss, he is going to ensure that things get taken care of in the proper way, to HIS satisfaction. Well done. Leave it to the morons on FOX News to make something out of nothing. President Obama officially became President of the United States at the stroke of noon on January 20, 2009 despite the fact that he had yet to take the oath of office. But, I don’t blame him for taking care of biz and taking the oath again. He’s nothing if not a perfectionist :)
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Tags: Barack Obama, John G. Roberts Jr.
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January 21st, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Obama: Hey, am I really the prez?
Roberts: Yeah…
Obama: Are you sure?
Roberts: :::stare:::
Obama: Can we do it again?
Roberts: Sure.
And Michelle Obama is standing in the background, with shaking her head in her hand, while looking fabulous at the same time. (She is the Jackie O. of our time.)
January 21st, 2009 at 7:52 pm
It’s ridiculous that Fox news was actually trying to paint this as a “Obama isn’t really president because of the flubbed oath!” sort of thing. They’re a disgraceful excuse of a news outlet.
Also, unless I am mistaken, the new president assumes office at noon on January 20 even if they haven’t been officially sworn in anyway (at least according to CNN, and I am more inclined to listen to CNN than Fox news)
January 21st, 2009 at 8:08 pm
High Five soul brother!
January 21st, 2009 at 8:17 pm
and this is why im glad i dont get fox news =) so he made a mistake? he’s human..geez
January 21st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
@J — correct, he became pres at noon despite the oath :)
January 21st, 2009 at 9:06 pm
j: Thats according to the constitution, but it def doesn’t hurt to make sure its done right. This def didn’t deserve to become a big deal, both men were relying on memory in a high pressure, exciting situation. Mistakes are bound to be made. Though I will say….I feel like it was a joint mistake, Obama cut off Roberts, Roberts got thrown off and made it worse. If this had been George Bush getting sworn in this would have been another story about Bush being an idiot. Instead, today the NY papers are blaming it on Roberts and calling him an oaf. . .
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:53 am
Roxster,
I was thinking the same thing along the lines that if this was GB all hell would have broke loose about how much of an idiot he was, regardless of whose fault it was. This was an EXTREMELY important day, both parties seemed to be at fault as he interupted Roberts through it, it seemed like a huge mess. And Obama’s wife said something into his ear afterwards..probably like “way to screw that up honey”… hehe
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 am
Fox News is the worst!
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 am
seriously, fox news should be ashamed of itself. they are so over-the-top and biased.. that type of media is useless and completely unnecessary in today’s world.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 am
I don’t know if its possible to say whose fault it is… they both stumbled and likely had a confusing effect on each other.
According to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the term of the President begins at noon on Jan. 20th no matter what. I doesn’t mention the oath of office. I has language stating that the Vice President would act as President if the President “failed to qualify”. Article 2, Section 1 Cl. 8 contains the oath of office and only specifies that the President need take it before he enter on the “execution” of his office. The problem is that the quoted phrases haven’t been interpreted so there is no precedent to fall back on. Better safe than sorry :)
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 am
It wasn’t actually Obama that insisted on redoing the oath. It was his white house counsel, Greg Craig, who suggested redoing the oath.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:36 am
That whole thing was such a shame. It was clear to me that Roberts was the one who messed it up. So embarrassing for Obama. I swear I almost missed it on Tuesday! I was like ‘wait, it’s over already?!’.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:46 am
I think it’s a nice gesture, since he is essentially making a personal oath to us.
I have sympathy for them both, it was freaking freezing out there, and 2 million people were staring (not counting it being broadcast all over the world). Anyone could fumble lines in those conditions!
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:00 am
And yet, Fox News consistently beats CNN in the ratings.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:02 am
Okay, the New York Times and every major news outlet including CNN and MSNBC have spent the last 8 years trashing George W. Bush and suddenly FOX is a bunch of biased idiots b/c they posed the question of “Is Obama really president?” And I agree, if this had been Bush everyone would be talking about what an idiot he is but since it’s Savior Obama of course everyone blames Roberts…
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
Seriously, I think it was a little ridiculous to suggest that Obama wasn’t president because of the flub by Roberts, cuz he was the president at noon, by law. And I like Fox News! But like posters said above, everyone makes mistakes. This was Justice Roberts’ first President to swear in, I know I’d be nervous as hell.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 am
Uh, JJ, where were you when the NY TImes and every news outlet were basically making the case for war in Iraq? Which they’ve all now APOLOGIZED for, admitting that they were not being objective. 8 years of being biased against Bush? Come on… that’s insane. And if you look at the transcript from the ceremony, it WAS Roberts’ fault. He screwed up his lines not once, but twice. On a happier note, Obama is going to close down the CIA “black sites” today! (Where we hand off prisoners to other countries to be tortured… torture isn’t American, but if we do it in a different country, I guess it’s OK?) Finally, a president who respects the Constitution. : )
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:29 am
Since we’re all about change. How about changing these attention hungry cable news networks and how they “find” and “report” stories? Its garbage the nonesense n’ drama they try to drum up just for ratings.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 am
Chris Wallace is a tool. However, Fox News’s reaction is not shocking considering that the network devoted way more coverage to W’s helicopter ride and subsequent landings/takeoffs than to the actual inauguration of the President.
It’s so obviously desperate. Kind of funny, actually.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am
CB–Chris Matthews is a tool. to state that MSNBC is the channel of change and hope and that all the people standing in the mall watching the inauguration watches MSNBC and is the future of our country. just because i watch Fox doesn’t mean i’m a right wing conservative obama hater.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
JP – Okay…
Do you think that saying “Chris Matthews is a tool” is going to hurt my feelings?
You people make me chuckle!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I happen to be a humble servant in a profession in which oath’s are taken very seriously. I do not expect anyone who reads this blog to understand how much swearing allegiance to an oath means to some; as I am just one person with very simple ways so it really doesn’t matter.
Bottom line: I hope that President Obama is graced with the soundest of wisdom and the sincerest of council to make good decisions for this country.
However, the oath President Obama fiddled with he should know stone cold. Period. All Presidents should. This is an unarguable point. The Chief Justice should have to say that oath from beginning to end in one shot, and then the President should recite it back perfectly in my humble opinion. Wouldn’t that show a little more “give-a-crap” factor? How much does an oath you swear to really mean if you can’t remember it anyways? Just do it again, blame it on someone else, and get it over with. Take Two right?
But then again, oath’s are just a bunch of words, and the Constitution is just a living document… right? America is a big evil monster? President Obama is gonna make every single one of your dreams come true?
I think a lot of people don’t understand that in the phrase “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” – “pursuit” is an action verb; requiring action on YOUR part. You are not just entitled magically to happiness.
On a few separate notes, how about that prayer from Mr. Rick Warren eh?
And regarding news channels, if you do not think the press was biased one way or another you’re a nincompoop. Source: http://www.mrc.org/SpecialReports/2008/obama/obamaExecSum.asp
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Oh, where’s the bible in the “take two” oath?
Oops. Take Three?
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Wow, Gadfly, pretentious much?
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
News channels are all biased. I happen to think Fox is more biased than some. I think people are making a big deal out of nothing. No matter who messed it up on Tuesday, it has now been redone. Either way Obama is still our President.
@Gadfly-
Just because someone stumbled that means Obama or the Chief Court Justice doesn’t give a crap? So if someone is getting married and they stumble over their vows that means they don’t care about their marriage? That is a bunch of crap, in my own humble opinion.
@JJ
Obama is not anyone’s Savior or Messiah and I think people should stop inferring that people think he is. What is wrong with having hope? What is wrong with being excited that the first black man has been sworn in as the President of the United States? While I understand that some people may be putting all their eggs in one basket so to speak, I don’t think people expect him to do anything superhuman or to wave a magic wand and fix everything Bush and his administration screwed up.
To call him a Savior is to set him up for failure and that is not at all fair to him or to this country, because his failure is our failure.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Ella — on your third point: exactly! The only people who keep referring to Obama as a Messiah or Savior, and saying he’s magically going to fix everything, are the right-wingers! The rest of us are just hopeful that we now have a president who respects the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rest of the world. He inspires us to try to improve the world, as well. This doesn’t make him the freaking Son of God or anything, and I wish they’d stop harping on that.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:12 pm
BTW… the bible is not required, but most Presidents choose to use one due to tradition! So no..there will probs not be a take 3..sorry!
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
@CB – I agree Chris Wallace is a tool. So if Fox News. Clearly those people were not required to take any sort of history or government courses ever or they would have known that the oath is basically a public formallity and tradition than anything else. You gotta love that pretty much as soon as Wallace said that, Fox News was all over it… The only reason I even saw the Fox thing was bc my sister had on that channel. I was flipping between CNN and MSNBC (MSNBC was having problems staying in on my cable network) Anyway you gotta love a President that’s thorough!
January 24th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Um, JJ…….FOX HAS NOT “SUDDENLY been a bunch of biased idiots”. WE, THE PEOPLE have been saying that for a looooong time! LMAO!!!!