Citing an Abundance of Caution, Obama Retakes the Oath

Anyone watching yesterday's Presidential inauguration saw the error that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts made while issuing the oath of office. Make no mistake, it was Roberts' mistake, but to play is safe, and using the term "an abundance of caution," the Obama administration had Roberts re-issue the oath of office.

It should be noted that according to NPR, Roberts first laughed off the request. But Obama persisted, and the oath was re-issued, in front of reporters.

The president retook the oath in the Map Room of the White House one day after his inauguration at the US Capitol.

"Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked him.

"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama said.

White House Counsel Greg Craig said:

"We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday. But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time."

As specified in the United States Constitution, the word "faithfully" precedes the phrase "execute the office," but Roberts read that part of the oath incorrectly.

Oath or no, the 20th amendment of the US Consitution, which provides that the president and vice president's term begins at noon on January 20th. In fact, Obama was president before yesterday's flubbed oath.