# President Bush, Vice President Biden **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222 "2009-01-20T22:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MC\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@MC\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_E)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/21 "2009-01-21T01:15:53Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Or how about: Since Obama/Roberts flubbed the oath, and Obama didn’t say word-for-word what is in the Constitution, he is not/cannot discharge the powers of the President of the United States? If that were the case, you can bet that they re-did it in private ASAP. Or maybe they would do it before the ceremony in private, so that at noon he is covered. And then they repeat it for the cameras when the time comes. Just idle speculation… I know it doesn’t really belong in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/22 "2009-01-21T03:56:24Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Or how about: Since Obama/Roberts flubbed the oath, and Obama didn’t say word-for-word what is in the Constitution, he is not/cannot discharge the powers of the President of the United States? Do we need to convince people that the oath of office is different from a magic spell? I can’t find the text of what the other presidents said verbatim, but the oath in the constitution starts out with, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully …” One issue is the parenthetical. It’s in the constitution, so ISTM that the founding fathers were inherently stating that one could affirm something, or if one didn’t want to, one could swear something. Do we disqualify the Presidents who didn’t say both words? Other issue: From my historical viewpoint of watching lots of TV, it seems that most Presidents are said to have said, “ **I, _State Your Name,_ do solemnly swear …** ” So, has any President actually taken the oath as written in the Constitution? Or is the fake oath that includes their names just something we trot out for the media, while the plus-4 spells are really uttered behind the scenes? Enquiring minds might want to know. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/23 "2009-01-21T04:43:00Z")
No, no, no. Presidents are like gods - they have powers because people _believe_ they have powers. Asking whether or not he’s the President is silly; ask rather whether we believe him to be. That’s your answer. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/24 "2009-01-21T04:58:21Z")
There is nothing that defines the term “executing,” in the Constitution, so Obama could refuse and if he did it’d go to the SCOTUS. Would they condsider it a political question? If so then they’d refuse to get involved and its likely at that point the people would pressure everyone to act on any order the president executed. Or they could argue the 22nd Amendment implicitly cancelled out the first part of the constitution. Again no one really knows till it happens. And past history is don’t make waves. (With a few exceptions like Dredd Scott) ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/25 "2009-01-21T05:19:20Z")
Interesting note: I was watching on CBS, and as the musical number right before Obama’s swearing-in ended, the network commentator said something like, “It’s a couple of minutes after noon now, so officially, we’ve got President Biden. They’d better get this show on the road.” Obviously, the commentator is not an authoritative source. But it does show you the constitutional interpretation of one member of the media, at least. His interpretation, as far as I can tell, was something like this: while Bush’s term ended and Obama’s term started at noon sharp, Obama was unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, by virtue of not having taken the Oath. Therefore, the 25th Amendment dictates that the Vice President become “Acting President,” which carries the honorific “President.” While this interpretation is certainly interesting, it’s probably wrong, since the incapacitation clause of the 25th Amendment doesn’t kick in unless the President writes two notes to such effect, or the cabinet votes on it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/26 "2009-01-21T06:41:09Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Interesting note: > I was watching on CBS, and as the musical number right before Obama’s swearing-in ended, the network commentator said something like, “It’s a couple of minutes after noon now, so officially, we’ve got President Biden. They’d better get this show on the road.” > > Obviously, the commentator is not an authoritative source. But it does show you the constitutional interpretation of one member of the media, at least. His interpretation, as far as I can tell, was something like this: while Bush’s term ended and Obama’s term started at noon sharp, Obama was unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, by virtue of not having taken the Oath. Therefore, the 25th Amendment dictates that the Vice President become “Acting President,” which carries the honorific “President.” > > While this interpretation is certainly interesting, it’s probably wrong, since the incapacitation clause of the 25th Amendment doesn’t kick in unless the President writes two notes to such effect, or the cabinet votes on it. Or maybe he just didn’t realize that the oath isn’t necessary to become president. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/27 "2009-01-21T06:48:51Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Or maybe he just didn’t realize that the oath isn’t necessary to become president. I like my explanation better: yours doesn’t even have any tits or explosions. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222/28 "2009-01-21T14:57:01Z")
In contrast, I was watching NBC and I seem to remember as the song ended, Brian Williams remarking that Barack Obama was now the President of the United States. I knew he was correct because it was a few minutes past noon but I was kind of surprised that he didn’t elaborate more, because the oath had not yet been given. I’m sure some people were confused to hear him say that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-bush-vice-president-biden/482222.md?page=1)