This clause is one of threeoath or affirmation clauses in the Constitution, but it is the only one that actually specifies the words that must be spoken.Article I, Section 3 requires Senators, when sitting to tryimpeachments, to be "on Oath or Affirmation."Article VI, Clause 3, similarly requires the persons specified therein to "be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution." The presidential oath requires much more than that general oath of allegiance andfidelity. This clause enjoins the new president to swear or affirm: "I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."[1]
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"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."[2]
A newly elected or re-electedpresident of the United States begins her or his four-year term of office at noon on the twentieth day of January following theelection, and, by tradition, takes the oath of office during aninauguration on that date; prior to 1937 the president's term of office began on March 4.[3] If January 20 falls on a Sunday, the president will be sworn in that day by taking the oath privately, but will then re-take the oath in a public ceremony the next day, on January 21.
Ninevice presidents have succeeded to the presidency upon the death or resignation of the president. In these situations the oath of office was administered to the new president as quickly as possible, as doing so allowed the presidency to continue uninterrupted.[4]
Franklin D. Roosevelt being administered the oath of office by Chief JusticeCharles Evans Hughes on March 4, 1933, the first of Roosevelt's four presidential inaugurations
The Constitutional language gives the option to "affirm" instead of "swear." While the reasons for this are not documented, it may relate to certain Christians, includingQuakers, who apply this scripture literally: "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation" (James 5:12, KJV).[10]Franklin Pierce is the only president known to have used the word "affirm" rather than "swear." Herbert Hoover is often listed to have used "affirm" as well, owing to his being a Quaker, but a newsreel taken of the ceremony indicates that the words used were "solemnly swear."[11] Richard Nixon, who was raised a Quaker, swore, rather than affirmed.[12][13]
There have been two forms of administering, and taking, the oath of office.
Under the first form, now in disuse, the administrator articulated the constitutional oath in the form of a question, and modifying the wording from the first to the second person, as in, "Do you, George Washington, solemnly swear ..." and then requested an affirmation. At that point a response of "I do" or "I swear" completed the oath.[citation needed]
It is believed that this was the common procedure at least until the early 20th century. In 1881, theNew York Times article covering the swearing in ofChester A. Arthur, reported that he responded to the question of accepting the oath with the words, "I will, so help me God."[14] In 1929,Time magazine reported that the Chief JusticeWilliam H. Taft began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear ...",[15] Hoover replied with a simple "I do."[16]
Under the second, and current form, the administrator articulates the oath in the affirmative, and in the first person, so that the president takes the oath by repeating it verbatim.[citation needed] Franklin Roosevelt, in 1933, stood silent as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes recited the entire oath, then repeated that oath from beginning to end himself.[17] By the time of Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949, the practice was for the chief justice to utter the oath in phrases, with the president repeating those phrases, until the oath was completed.[18]
TheFirst Congress explicitly prescribed the phrase "So help me God" in oaths under theJudiciary Act of 1789 for all U.S. judges and officers other than the president. It was prescribed even earlier under the various first state constitutions[28] as well as by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.[29][30] Although the phrase is mandatory in these oaths, the said Act also allows for the option that the phrase be omitted by the officer, in which case it would be called anaffirmation instead of anoath: "Which words, so help me God, shall be omitted in all cases where an affirmation is admitted instead of an oath."[31] In contrast, the oath of the president is the only oath specified in the Constitution. It does not include the closing phrase "So help me God," and it also allows for the optional form of anaffirmation which is not considered an oath. In practice, most presidents, at least during the last century, have opted to take theoath (rather than anaffirmation), to use a Bible to do so, and also to close the oath with the customary phrase.
There is currently debate as to whether or notGeorge Washington, the first president, added the phrase to his acceptance of the oath.[32] The earliest known source indicating Washington added "So help me God" to his acceptance, not to the oath, is attributed toWashington Irving, aged six at the time of the inauguration, and first appears 65 years after the event.[33] The only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul,Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath,[34] without reference to Washington's adding "So help me God" to his acceptance.
The historical debate over who first used "So help me God" is marred by ignoring the two forms of giving the oath. The first, now in disuse, is when the administrator articulates the constitutional oath in the form of a question, as in, "Do you George Washington solemnly swear ...", requesting an affirmation. At that point a response of "I do" or "I swear" completes the oath. Without verbatim transcripts, the scant existing evidence shows this was the common procedure at least until the early 20th century. In 1865 the SacramentoDaily Union covered thesecond inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln finished his oath with "So help me God," and he kissed the Bible.[35] TheDaily Union account is embellished in several ways, and other newspaper accounts published nearer to the ceremony do not mention the phrase (but they do not quote the oath in any form).[36] In 1881, theNew York Times article covering the swearing in ofChester A. Arthur reported that he responded to the question of accepting the oath with the words, "I will, so help me God."[14] In 1929,Time magazine reported that thechief justice began the oath uttering, "You, Herbert Hoover, do you solemnly swear ..."[15] Hoover replied with a simple "I do."
A contemporaneous newspaper account of Lincoln's 1865 inauguration states that Lincoln appended the phrase "So help me God" to the oath.[35] This newspaper report is followed by another account, provided later in the same year after Lincoln's death (April 15, 1865), that Lincoln said "So help me God" during his oath.[37] The evidence pertaining to the 1865 inauguration is much stronger than that pertaining to Lincoln's 1861 use of the phrase. Several sources claim that Lincoln said "So help me God" at his 1861 inauguration, yet these sources were not contemporaneous to the event.[38][39] During the speech, Lincoln stated that his oath was "registered in Heaven,"[40] something some have taken as indicating he likely uttered the phrase "So help me God." Conversely, there was a claim made by A. M. Milligan (a Presbyterian minister who advocated for an official Christian U.S. government) that letters were sent to Abraham Lincoln asking him to swear to God during his inaugurations, and Lincoln allegedly wrote back saying that God's name was not in the Constitution, and he could not depart from the letter of that instrument.[41][full citation needed][42]
Richard Gardiner's research published in theWhite House History Quarterly, November 2024, offers contemporary evidence for presidents who used the phrase going back to William Henry Harrison in 1841, and Andrew Jackson.[43]
All federal judges and executive officers were required as early as 1789 by statute to include the phrase unless they affirmed, in which case the phrase must be omitted.[44] Given that nearly every president-elect since PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt has recited the additional phrase, it is likely that the majority of presidents-elect have uttered it.[45]
Barack Obama being administered the oath of office by Chief JusticeJohn Roberts for the second time, on January 21, 2009
In1909, when PresidentWilliam Howard Taft was sworn in,Chief JusticeMelville Fuller misquoted the oath, but the error was not publicized at the time. The mistake was similar to the one Taft himself would make twenty years later when, as Chief Justice, he swore in President Hoover. Recalling the incident, Taft wrote, "When I was sworn in as president by Chief Justice Fuller, he made a similar slip," and added, "but in those days when there was no radio, it was observed only in the Senate chamber where I took the oath."[15]
In1925, Chief Justice Taft, himself formerly a president of the United States, administered second oath of PresidentCalvin Coolidge saying "...the office ofthe President of the United States" instead of "...the office of President of the United States", then continued the oath "andthat to the best of my ability" instead of "andwill to the best of my ability" as well as "...protect, preserve and defend" instead of the correct order "...preserve, protect and defend".[46]
Again in1929, Chief Justice Taft famously garbled the oath when he swore in PresidentHerbert Hoover saying "...the office ofthe President of the United States" instead of "...the office of President of the United States", then continued the oath "and to the best of my ability" instead of "andwill to the best of my ability" as well as using the words "preserve,maintain, and defend the Constitution," instead of "preserve,protect, and defend the Constitution." Taft eventually acknowledged his error, but did not think it was important, and Hoover did not retake the oath. In Taft's view, his departure from the text did not invalidate the oath.[15][47][48]
In1945, PresidentHarry S. Truman's bare initial caused an unusual slip when he first became president and took the oath. At a meeting in theCabinet Room,Chief JusticeHarlan Stone, apparently mistaken about the meaning of Truman's middle initial (which is not an abbreviation but rather the whole middle name in itself), began reading the oath by saying "Do you, Harry Shipp Truman, ..." Truman responded: "I, Harry S. Truman, ..."[49]
In both his1953 and1957 inaugurations,Dwight D. Eisenhower read the line "the office of President of the United States" as "the office ofthe President of the United States," even as chief justicesFred Vinson (in 1953) andEarl Warren (in 1957) said the line correctly.
In1965, Chief Justice Earl Warren promptedLyndon B. Johnson to say, "the Office ofthe Presidency of the United States."[50]
In1973, PresidentRichard Nixon added the word "and" between "preserve" and "protect," resulting in "preserveand protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Nixon had recited the line correctly during his first inauguration.
In2009, Chief JusticeJohn Roberts, while administering the oath toBarack Obama, incorrectly recited part of the oath. Roberts prompted, "That I will execute the Office of Presidentto the United Statesfaithfully." Obama stopped at "execute," and waited for Roberts to correct himself. Roberts, after a false start, then followed Obama's "execute" with "faithfully," which results in "execute faithfully," which is also incorrect. Obama then repeated Roberts' initial, incorrect prompt, with the word "faithfully" after "United States."[51][52] The oath was re-administered the next day by Roberts at the White House.[53][54] This incident provided for the title and much of the content ofJeffrey Toobin's 2012 bookThe Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court.
Since the office of President of the United States came into existence in 1789 there have been 59 public swearing-in ceremonies to mark the commencement of a new four-year presidential term, plus an additional nine marking the start of a partial presidential term following the intra-term death or resignation of anincumbent president. With the 2021 inauguration ofJoe Biden, the presidential oath has been taken 76 different times by 45[a] persons. This numerical discrepancy results chiefly from two factors: a president must take the oath at the beginning of each term of office, and, because Inauguration Day has sometimes fallen on a Sunday, five presidents have taken the oath privately before the public inauguration ceremony. In addition, three have repeated the oath as a precaution against potential later constitutional challenges.[55]
^As of 2025[update]. While there have been 47 presidencies, only 45 individuals have served as president. Two presidents have served non-consecutive terms: and thus, conventionally,Grover Cleveland is numbered as both the 22nd and 24th U.S. president, andDonald Trump is numbered as both the 45th and 47th U.S. president.
^Inaugurations sort alphabetically by president's last name.
Map showing locations where the oath of office was first taken, marked with a green 'O' (or a green dot for scheduled occurrences). Locations where presidencies ended unexpectedly are marked with a red 'X' (a red dot denoted scheduled transitions). The nine sets of names shown in black denote the location where presidencies have ended intra-term due to the incumbent's death (four presidents have died of natural causes and four wereassassinated—names underlined in grey) or resignation (one, noted by a superscript 'R'). The inset at the bottom of the map is Oath or Affirmation Clause (Article II, Section One, Clause 8) of the U.S. Constitution.
^Porter H. Dale, "The Calvin Coolidge Inauguration Revisited: An Eyewitness Account by Congressman Porter H. Dale",Vermont History, 1994, Volume 62, pp. 214–222.
^McCullough, David (1992).Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 347, 729.ISBN0-671-86920-5. Harry Truman is a notable example, as he bent and kissed the Bible upon taking the oath for the first time, on April 12, 1945, as well as at his second inauguration.
^Foster, James Mitchell (1894) [1894].Christ the King. Boston: James H. Earle. p. 277. In fact, Milligan did write to Lincoln, but his request was not that Lincoln add "so help me God" to the Oath, but rather that the name of Jesus Christ be added to the U.S. Constitution.[1]
^"Chester A. Arthur House". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived fromthe original on January 25, 2009. RetrievedFebruary 5, 2017.
