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http://blogs.abcnews.com/legalities/2009/01/chief-justice-f.html

Chief Justice John Roberts is a man who has made very few public missteps in his life -- but he appears to have made one when swearing in Barack Obama.  After Obama stepped on the first line of the oath, Roberts then slightly flubbed the next bit--which then tripped up Obama.

You'd think two brilliant Harvard Law grads who are both serious students of the Constitution (and obviously know the words of the oath by heart) would nail this one, but, then again, who among us has made history standing before two million people on a freezing January day?

The oath is contained in the Constitution:

"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."

But when Obama jumped in sooner than Roberts expected, Roberts flipped some of the words, saying: "I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully."

Here's the transcript:

ROBERTS:  Are you prepared to take the oath, Senator?
OBAMA:  I am.
ROBERTS:  I, Barack Hussein Obama...
OBAMA:  I, Barack...
ROBERTS:  ... do solemnly swear...
OBAMA:  I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear...
ROBERTS:  ... that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully...
OBAMA:  ... that I will execute...
ROBERTS:  ... faithfully the office of president of the United States...
OBAMA:  ... the office of president of the United States faithfully...
ROBERTS:  ... and will to the best of my ability...
OBAMA:  ... and will to the best of my ability...
ROBERTS:  ... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
OBAMA:  ... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
ROBERTS:  So help you God?
OBAMA:  So help me God.
ROBERTS:  Congratulations, Mr. President.

UPDATE:  It's worth pointing out that Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had been President himself, also flubbed the oath when he was swearing in Herbert Hoover in 1929. When Taft administered the oath, he said, "preserve, maintain and defend the Constitution," instead of "preserve, PROTECT, and defend." So where Roberts flipped a couple of words, Taft substituted an entirely new one.

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Chief Justice John Roberts is actually the guy who got it wrong.  He mixed up the words.

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That is what I've been pointing out to people. At one point Obama cuts himself off and nods to Roberts as a cue for Roberts to correct himself. When Roberts fails to respond to the cue Obama is forced to continue and the entire rhythm of the exchange is awkwardly thrown off. I cringed when it happened.

You would think they practice these things but I didn't see Roberts holding a cue card as the justice who swore in Biden wisely did.

It's just one of those things and people will have forgotten about it in a week.

I would be surprised to see Roberts back for the next oath of office.

johnm214 said:

They both messed it up, but who cares.  Something to tease him about, but ehh.

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zorbman said:

I would be surprised to see Roberts back for the next oath of office.

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What does roberts messing it up have to do with anything?  Obama didn't repeat what the constitution nor roberts said.

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Minstrel said:

I don't understand why the Pres just doesn't memorize the oath and recite it unbroken by memory.  It's not like it's long. 

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Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012103685.html?hpid=topnews

In golf, they call it a mulligan. A do-over.

There's no formal name for what President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did last night.

After flubbing his one role on Inauguration Day -- administering the oath of office to Obama -- Roberts traveled to the White House to re-administer the oath.

Just to make sure.

"We decided it was so much fun . . .," Obama joked while sitting on a couch in the Map Room. Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool reporters as Roberts donned his black robe.

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

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

After a flawless recitation that included no Bible and took 25 seconds, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again."

Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls."
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A president is required by the Constitution to say, "I do solemnly swear 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."

At the inauguration, Roberts instead said: "that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully."

In a statement, White House counsel Greg Craig said the oath was re-administered "out of an abundance of caution."

"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," Craig's statement said.

Two presidents -- Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur -- have retaken the oath because of unusual circumstances the first time around.

The Map Room ceremony was less grand than the original one in front of the throng on the Mall.

But it was certainly warmer.

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Quote:

Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls."

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zouden said:

Quote:

Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls."

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I don't get it...?

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