“ I do solemnly swear ( or affirm ) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States , and will to the good of my ability , preserve , protect , and defend the Constitution of the United States . ” Every U.S. president - elect has uttered these 35 Constitutionally - specify words before they ’ve infix the White House , fromGeorge WashingtontoJoe Biden .
The Oath of Office ceremonial , which takes place onInauguration Dayin front of crowds gathered outside the Capitol in Washington , D.C. , demonstrates the president - elect ’s commitment to the principles of theConstitutionand the popular institutions it created .
“ The dominance of our public officials is not arbitrary , ” Denver Brunsman , a prof of history at George Washington University , tolda U.S. embassy internet site . “ These masses are elect and then their authority rests with the Constitution and law . ”
Typically , the United States President - elect has retell the Oath of Office with one hand on a Bible . But the Constitution does n’t intend that they need to be bank in on the Christian text — and some have forego the ritual .
Article II , Section I , article 8of the Constitution requires the president - elect to take the Oath of Office and supply the exact Holy Writ , but leaves decisions about who administers the swearword and other particular of the ceremony up to the people aim part in it . Traditionally , the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has distribute the oath , and George Washington began the drug abuse of swearing it in public .
fit in to Brunsman , the practice of depose the Oath of Office on a Bible likely arrive to the U.S. from the United Kingdom , where British functionary have been swearing allegiance to the monarch and the Church of England on the text since the 1500s . And , coupled with the fact that all U.S. chairwoman have been at least nominally of a Christian trust , it should n’t be surprising that they have opted to swear on a Bible .
The eccentric of Bible or scriptural passage they choose to be aver in on isleft up tothe president - elect ’s personal discernment . Barack Obamaand Donald Trump depone on the Lincoln Bible , the same one Abraham Lincoln used during his own inaugural . George W. Bush took his expletive on a family Bible , which he left conclude for his first startup in 2001 , and thenopenedto Isaiah 40:31 ( “ They that hold back upon the Lord shall regenerate their strength ; they shall mount up with wing as eagle … ” ) for his 2d inauguration in 2005.Richard Nixonswore on not one but two Bibles belonging to his house .
A select telephone number of president have not swear on the Bible , which was more common in early chapters of American history when specific rules and traditions were n’t as entrenched as they are today . Thomas Jeffersondid not utilize one , perhaps as a show of his commitment to the interval of Christian church and state . John Quincy Adamssworeon a book of laws .
Calvin Coolidge , Warren G. Harding ’s vice president , was on holiday in Vermont when he got word that the president had died . Coolidge ’s father , a notary world , swear him in without a Bible — in keep with their Puritan ethics , whichfrowned onimbuing an object with honor reserve only for God , harmonize to the New England Historical Society . “ The Bible which had belong to my female parent lie down on the tabular array at my script , ” Coolidge subsequently wrote . “ It was not officially used , as it is not the practice in Vermont or Massachusetts to utilize a Bible in connection with the government of an oath . ”
Theodore Roosevelt , William McKinley ’s frailty president , also look at his oath without a Bible , perhaps because of similarly rushed fate : He wassworn inhours after McKinley ’s death from anassassin ’s bullet in Buffalo , New York .
Whether blaspheme on a Bible or not , the purpose of the Oath of Office remain unchanged : to signify that the chair - elect will fulfill their responsibility in service of something greater than themselves .
understand More About governance :
