"I do solemnly swear"

It was six minutes late, but two-hundred thirty-three years in coming.


Today, at approximately 11:56 AM 12:06PM, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. administered the Presidential Oath of Office* to Barack Hussein Obama, who said:

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.

—Article II, Section 1, United States Constitution

The valediction, "So help me God", was added at some later historical point.

* [Roberts goofed the lines. President Obama didn't, which momentarily seemed to confuse the Chief Justice. Obama put him at ease with a smile.]


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The website of the US Senate has a page devoted to the history of the Inauguration.

The Library of Congress has a publicly accessible Flickr account to which it has been uploading historical photos. Below is one of President William Taft and President-elect Woodrow Wilson on their way to Wilson's swearing-in on 4 March 1913.