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| Subject: Obama 'faithfully RE-executes' his oath inside White House after fumbled first attempt on inauguration day Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:44 pm | |
| Barack Obama had a second go at taking his oath of office on Wednesday night after Chief Justice John Roberts fumbled his lines during the inauguration day swearing in ceremony.
The supreme court judge re-administered the oath without any hiccups at the White House.
Although the error did not invalidate the presidential oath he took in front of 1.8million spectators in Washington, aides said White House lawyers advised the president to run through it a second time just in case.
With his hand on the Lincoln Bible, held by his beaming wife, Mr Obama took the presidential oath of office on Tuesday - and flubbed it.
First, he began to repeat the 35-word oath before the Chief Justice reciting it had finished his line.
But the pair recovered safely from that gaffe - only to misquote the oath.
It wasn't Mr Obama's fault - Chief Justice Roberts transposed the words, and Mr Obama merely repeated them.
He should have said he will 'faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States'.
Instead, following the Chief Justice's lead, he said he will 'execute the office of the President of the United States faithfully'.
Constitutional law experts speaking to the Washington Post agreed that the gaffe was insignificant.
Even so, it may have caused a legal headache. Two previous presidents - Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur - have had to repeat the oath privately because of similar issues.
Lawyers said Mr Obama need not be worried about the legitimacy of his presidency - but they also said a do-over couldn't hurt, the Post reported.
It was the first time Chief Justice Roberts had administered the oath - and, coincidentally of course, the first time in history that any Chief Justice has administered the oath to a president who voted against his confirmation.
Hillary Clinton was also sworn in as Secretary of State late on Wednesday night after the US Senate overwhelmingly approved her appointment.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1126023/Obama-faithfully-RE-executes-oath-inside-White-House-fumbled-attempt-inauguration-day.html |
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