Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States was officially sworn into his second term this past Sunday, taking the oath of office in the Blue Room at the White House. While the 57th Presidential Inauguration took place on Monday, January 21st, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires that the President officially be sworn in on January 20that noon. President Obama took the oath of office two times this year, making him the only president besides Franklin Roosevelt to have taken the oath of office four times. In 2009, Chief Justice John Roberts botched the oath during the Inauguration, and re-administered it the following day. In Roosevelt’s case, he took the oath after being elected four separate times.
Besides the Constitution’s requirement to take the oath on January 20th at noon, it says little else about the inauguration. The only other requirement it spells out is the wording of the oath of office in Article II, Section I, “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.” It has also become tradition to say “So help me God” at the end of the oath, even though it is not included in the constitutional wording. President Obama has followed this tradition and said it after his oaths of office. The Constitution also does not specify who gives the oath of office, though typically the Chief Justice administers it. This year, Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath of office to President Obama and Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the oath to Vice President Joe Biden.
Besides the Constitution’s requirement to take the oath on January 20th at noon, it says little else about the inauguration. The only other requirement it spells out is the wording of the oath of office in Article II, Section I, “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.” It has also become tradition to say “So help me God” at the end of the oath, even though it is not included in the constitutional wording. President Obama has followed this tradition and said it after his oaths of office. The Constitution also does not specify who gives the oath of office, though typically the Chief Justice administers it. This year, Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath of office to President Obama and Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the oath to Vice President Joe Biden.
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