The Associated Press is reporting that President Barack Obama has retaken the oath of office, which got mangled during Tuesday's inaugural ceremonies.
Here's a short AP story on the issue:
By The Associated PressThe presidential oath of office, which was given again to
President Barack Obama Wednesday after the wording was flubbed
slightly when given Tuesday, is set by the Constitution and reads:"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."
Here's a more complete AP story:
By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After the flub heard around the world,
President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again.
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on
Wednesday night at the White House -- a rare do-over. The surprise
moment came in response to Tuesday's much-noticed stumble, when
Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted
Obama to do so, too.
Don't worry, the White House says: Obama has still been
president since noon on Inauguration Day.
Nevertheless, Obama and Roberts went through the drill again out
of what White House counsel Greg Craig called "an abundance of
caution."
This time, the scene was the White House Map Room in front of a
small group of reporters, not the Capitol platform before the whole
watching world.
"We decided that because it was so much fun ...," Obama joked
to reporters who followed press secretary Robert Gibbs into the
room. No TV camera crews or news photographers were allowed in. A
few of Obama's closest aides were there, along with a White House
photographer.
Roberts put on his black robe.
"Are you ready to take the oath?" he said.
"Yes, I am," Obama said. "And we're going to do it very
slowly."
Roberts then led Obama through the oath without any missteps.
The president said he did not have his Bible with him, but that
the oath was binding anyway.
The original, bungled version on Tuesday caught observers by
surprise and then got replayed on cable news shows.
It happened when Obama interrupted Roberts midway through the
opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly
swears.
Next in the oath is the phrase " ... that I will faithfully
execute the office of president of the United States." But Roberts
rearranged the order of the words, not saying "faithfully" until
after "president of the United States."
That appeared to throw Obama off. He stopped abruptly at the
word "execute."
Recognizing something was off, Roberts then repeated the phrase,
putting "faithfully" in the right place but without repeating
"execute."
But Obama then repeated Roberts' original, incorrect version:
"... the office of president of the United States faithfully."
Craig, the White House lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday
evening: "We believe the oath of office was administered
effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately
yesterday. Yet the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out
of the abundance of caution, because there was one word out of
sequence, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath a
second time."
The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath
and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a
do-over probably wasn't necessary but also couldn't hurt. Two other
previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar
issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.
Jimbo...Good, although we can't have a redo in our minds,I felt bad for "El Uno".Whose to blame for the bad start?
I don't think it was necessary to have a redo to save face cause everyone knows it was the fault of the Chief Justice.
It may have been more of a legal precaution than "to save face."
Yeah I thought it was interesting that it had happened twice before.