The US chief justice did not quote the correct line
The US chief justice did not quote the correct line
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It was the constitutional equivalent of a wardrobe malfunction. But, minor as it appeared, the 20 lakh spectators in Washington didn't actually witness Barack Obama being sworn in.
With his hand on the Lincoln Bible, held by his beaming wife, Obama took the presidential oath of office yesterday and flubbed it.
First, he began to repeat the 35-word oath before the chief justice reciting it had finished his line.
But the pair recovered safely from that gaffe only to misquote the oath.
It wasn't Obama's fault Chief Justice John G Roberts transposed the words, and Obama merely repeated them.
He should have said he will "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States". Instead, following the chief justice's lead, he said he will "execute the office of the President of the United States faithfully".
Constitutional law experts agreed that the gaffe was insignificant.
Even so, it has caused a legal headache. Two previous US presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester A Arthur have had to repeat the oath privately because of similar issues.
Lawyers said Obama need not be worried about the legitimacy of his presidency, but they also said the do-over won't hurt.
White House counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts again out of an "abundance of caution".
The chief justice and the president handled the matter privately in the White House early this morning.u00a0
'No, we can't watch Obama'
Thousands of Americans who had tickets to attend Obama's inauguration ceremony were turned away, told to wait, or left to languish in a tunnel.
They were carrying purple tickets that would have given them standing-room access outside the Capitol building. Instead, they waited for hours in a cramped tunnel with no access to latrines.
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