![\"\"](\"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/barack-obama-retakes-the-001.jpg\" "\\"barack-obama-retakes-the-001\\"")
<\/a>Most presidents take the oath of office twice in their lives only if reelected. \u00a0Yesterday night, Barack Obama took the oath \u2013 again \u2013 \u00a0from Chief Justice John Roberts because of the miscues during the inauguration ceremony the day before. \u00a0The media\u2019s take, thus far, is to poke fun at what is called the \u201cdo over,\u201d the \u201cflub heard around the world,\u201d (MSNBC) and the \u201coaf of office\u201d (courtesy of the New York Post). \u00a0Yet at the same time, we are assured that Obama\u2019s first oath was essentially good enough or perhaps even unnecessary for him to assume the presidency because the new term began at noon on January 20, 2009 regardless. \u00a0Yale\u2019s Akhil Amar obligingly opined on NBC that the second oath was akin to \u201cwearing both a belt and suspenders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nPersonally, I\u2019d find it somewhat unsettling if Obama began wearing a belt along with suspenders, so I think it is worth our time to take seriously an event that obviously the President and the Chief Justice took quite seriously. \u00a0 I am very much impressed that Obama and Roberts thought the oath significant enough to warrant the second ceremony. \u00a0Clearly it was not done to deflect the embarrassment of the day before; indeed, the second oath only underscored their abject failure to recite correctly the 35 word oath \u2013 hardly a pas de deux. \u00a0I also doubt that either Obama or Roberts fretted about the legality of the inauguration ceremony; the second oath was not intended to avoid crack pot law suits. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Rather, the message sent by both the Chief Justice and the President is that both men so value the words of the oath and their official responsibilities that they are willing to endure a fresh round of chiding and gentle ridicule. \u00a0 Essentially, the second duet acknowledged the mistake made by two very smart, well-educated men the day before when, apparently, their nerves and wits partially failed them before hundreds of millions of people worldwide. \u00a0Imagine that. \u00a0 Hindsight suggests that they should have just started over on inauguration day, prefaced perhaps with some gentle humor that would have captured this quite human undertaking. \u00a0That did not happen. \u00a0But the second oath, administered by the robed Chief Justice in comparative calm and privacy a day later, tells us that they take such matters seriously, that they are willing to acknowledge mistakes and rectify them. \u00a0It coincided nicely with Obama\u2019s call to \u201crestore the vital trust between people and their government\u201d and to inaugurate \u201ca new era of responsibility \u2013 a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties[.]\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Obama\u2019s second oath is, one hopes, a sign that he will candidly acknowledge and correct the missteps and mistakes that will inevitably occur as he \u201cfaithfully execute[s]\u201d the sworn duties of his office while acting to \u201cpreserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.\u201d \u00a0 The oath is a small duty, but Obama\u2019s attention to it augers well that he will closely attend to his more daunting responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Update: \u00a0Jessica Slavin mistakenly took initial credit for this wonderful post when she posted it on behalf of Professor Dan Blinka this morning. \u00a0Sorry Dan!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 Most presidents take the oath of office twice in their lives only if reelected. \u00a0Yesterday night, Barack Obama took the oath \u2013 again \u2013 \u00a0from Chief Justice John Roberts because of the miscues during the inauguration ceremony the day before. \u00a0The media\u2019s take, thus far, is to poke fun at what is called the 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