Oath of Office of The President of The United States - Administrator of The Oath

Administrator of The Oath

While the Constitution does not mandate that anyone in particular should administer the oath, the oath is typically administered by the Chief Justice, but sometimes by another federal or state judge (George Washington was first sworn in by Robert Livingston, the chancellor of the State of New York in 1789, while Calvin Coolidge was first sworn in by his father, a Justice of the Peace and a Vermont notary public in 1923). By convention, incoming Presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible or other book while taking the oath of office.

William R. King is the only executive official sworn into office on foreign soil. By special act of Congress, he was allowed to take his oath of the office of the Vice President on March 24, 1853 in Cuba, where he had gone because of his poor health. He died 25 days later.

From 1789 through 2009, the swearing-in has been administered by 15 Chief Justices, one Associate Justice, three federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public. To date the only person to swear in a president who was not a judge was John Calvin Coolidge, Sr., Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary whose home the then-Vice President was visiting in 1923 when he learned of the death of President Warren G. Harding.

Sarah T. Hughes is the only woman to administer the oath of office. She was a U.S. District Court judge who swore Lyndon B. Johnson into office on Air Force One after John F. Kennedy's assassination.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was administered the oath of office four times, more than any other president. However, since President Barack Obama's second inaugural is to fall on a Sunday, he is likely to be sworn in twice for his second inauguration with the second falling on Monday. If this occurs as expected, Obama will also have been sworn in four times counting the two from his first inauguration, due to Chief Justice John Roberts misstating the wording of the oath on his first attempt, thereby causing a request for a re-administration of the oath shortly after in private quarters.