Sunday, January 18, 2009

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States ..."

Question:

How many times in our nation's history, has someone who was NOT the Chief Justice, administered the presidential oath?

[Imagine the sound from Jeopardy]



Give up?

8 times.

The last time - Lyndon Johnson, on board Airforce One, enroute to Washington after the murder of President Kennedy.

The previous occasion: August 1923 - Calvin Coolidge. His father administered the oath. His father was a notary public.

Before Coolidge, we would have to go back to Theodore Roosevelt who had the oath administered by a district judge from New York, in 1901.

We would have to go back to 1881 to find the next oath administered by someone who was not a Chief Justice - Chester Arthur, had the oath administered by a justice from the New York Supreme Court.


1850 - Millard Fillmore


1841 - John Tyler


1793 - George Washington


Interesting.





"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."












oath