President Barack Obama was officially sworn into office for his second term today according to US Constitutional Law. Because the Constitution states that the President of the United States must begin his term on January 20, the official swearing in ceremony took place in an intimate, private setting in Washington DC this morning ahead of tomorrow’s public, televised swearing in in front of the entire country. Because of the weekend, the major inauguration festivities couldn’t begin until tomorrow but the Supreme Law of the Land cannot wait. Just moments ago, Barack Obama was officially sworn in for his second term as president.
President Obama officially began his second term Sunday, taking the oath of office in a White House ceremony a day ahead of the traditional public event marked by pomp, pageantry and a parade. The swearing-in, carried live on national television, was prompted by a quirk of the calendar. For the seventh time in 200 years, inauguration day fell on a Sunday. Since 1917, incoming or reelected presidents have chosen to take the oath in relative privacy, rather than hold public ceremonies on a Sunday. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administered the oath, as he did, twice, four years ago. In 2009, Roberts and Obama mangled the wording of the oath during the inaugural ceremony. White House lawyers, out of an abundance of caution, summoned the chief justice to the White House the next evening to readminister the oath. He did so, without a Bible or TV cameras present, but using the exact words of the constitutional oath. The last president sworn in on a Sunday was Ronald Reagan, who began his second term in 1985 in the grand foyer at the White House. Obama chose the Blue Room, an oval-shaped salon on the main floor that was also the site of the only presidential wedding at the White House, Grover Cleveland’s in 1886 … Under the Constitution’s 20th amendment, Obama’s first term officially ends at noon Sunday and his second begins at the same time. Earlier Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in at a separate ceremony at his official residence in northwest Washington. Obama and Biden will reenact their oath-taking Monday at the inaugural ceremony on the West Front of the Capitol. At that time, the president will deliver his second inaugural address … On Monday, the president will use two Bibles, stacked together, when Roberts swears him in — for the fourth time, counting 2009. One will be the Lincoln Bible that he used in 2009. The other will be a Bible that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. carried before he was assassinated in 1968. The public inaugural ceremony falls on the federal holiday that marks King’s birthday, which is actually Jan. 15.
And there you have it … President Obama is now officially on the second term clock right now. Second inaugurations are never as grand as the first inaugurations are but I have a feeling there will be plenty enough celebrating going on in Washington DC tomorrow. Wee!!
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Ah love it… Especially when he says, “I did it” to Sasha.
OMG, I got teary eyed and was smiling like a fool. I pretty much had the same look on my face that Michelle has the whole time. What a proud moment.
i teared up too! i just love him and respect him and have faith that WE can turn the beat around in this country! lets do this, friends!
So happy that his second term has begun!
Gotta be honest….DC was a nightmare TODAY (I had an opera rehearsal in Foggy Bottom, otherwise I would never have gone into the city)- I can’t even imagine how it’s going to be tomorrow, and I have to go back!!! It was so fun to see so many excited people on the trains and walking around downtown. The energy is palpable, it’s going to be a blast….once I get past the zillions of tourists on the metro!