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So help me God in presidential oaths

• Introduction
• George Washington's 18th century oath history
• George Washington did not say shmG
• No 18th and only one 19th century president appended shmG
• New shmG "tradition" myth created in 20th century
• Partial bibliography for preceeding.
• More George Washington myths and non-sequiturs

Preface

The research for this article is a collaborative effort with contributions from many individuals. At the end of November, 2004, Attorney Michael Newdow sent an e-mail to the Director of the First Federal Congress Project at George Washington University to see whether he could obtain more information about the 1789 bill to regulate the taking of an oath or affirmation as prescribed by Article six of the Constitution. Director Charlene Bickford's reply included the following comment about George Washington's first presidential oath of office recitation: "After much back and forth with the editors of the 'Papers of George Washington' [namely, Senior Editor Philander D. Chase, University of Virginia] and research in the sources [Documentary History of the First Federal Congress] that we have here, we were unable to locate any contemporary account [among the many eyewitness & newspaper accounts] that reported that he said those words." Mr. Newdow promptly passed this information to a historical and legal researcher and writer who requests anonymity and the late USAF LT. COL (Ret) Glen P. Goffin. Ray Soller and Mathew Goldstein also joined the research effort. This article is being written by Mathew Goldstein.

The phrase 'so help me God' is found in latin "Sic me adjuvet Deus" in the statutes of Charlemagne in 802 A.D. A similar phrase is found in pagan Norse law according to Macmillan's Magazine, "Ordeals and Oaths" by E.B. Flor, May, 1876; pgs 8-9. Ulfliot, representing Icelandic settlers, traveled to Norway and was tutored by a Northman, Thorleif the Wise, about their laws in A.D. 925. This a translation of the oath from Ulfliot's law as it appears in the old Icelandic manuscript "Book of Settlement" or "Landnama":

A ring of two ounces or more in weight had to lie on the altar in each chief temple. Each priest had to wear the ring on his arm at all assemblies over which he himself presided, having previously reddened it in the blood of the animal which he himself had sacrificed there. Every man who required to do legal business at a law court had first to take an oath on that ring, and name two or more witnesses. "I name [M. and N.] witnesses herein," he had to say, "that I take an oath on the ring, a lawful oath, ---so help me Frey and Njörd and almighty Thor, as I shall pursue (or defend) this suit, or bear witness, or give verdict or judgment, according to what I know to be most right and true and in accordance with the law.

A short summary of what is probably the first opposition in what is now the United States of America to government oaths including the phrase "so help me God" can be found in an article in the periodical "Church and State", the official publication of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, "The forgotten founder" by Rob Boston, Church and State, April 2003. In 1635 Roger Williams, then a pastor of a Salem Massachusetts church, argued that civil officials should have no authority in religious matters. He was forced to flee that Puritan theocracy after its General Court found him guilty of promoting views that were "erroneous and very dangerous". As related in Washington's General: Nathanael Greene And the Triumph of the American Revolution by Terry Golway, 2004, page 13

The New World, however, quickly proved to be no refuge from the divisions and dissents of the Old. William shocked the citizens of Boston when he asserted that political authorities should not have the power to enforce religious dogma. More disputes followed as Williams preached the importance of individual conscience, insisting that the phrase "so help me God" should be removed from the colony's oath of allegiance. It was, he said, offensive to those who didn't believe in God.

Those who didn't believe in God? This was too much for the Bay Colony's fathers, and no doubt its mothers as well. Williams was banished from the colony, and so early in 1736, he and his band of followers, including Dr. Greene, slogged through the snow and ice of a New England winter to found a new refuge, which they called Providence

Today, both federal civilian and military personnel and new citizens who do not want to append 'so help me God' to their Oath of Office or Oath of Citizenship may take the oath without that phrase. The Supreme Court held in Cole v. Richardson, 405 U.S. 676 that federal and state governments cannot condition employment on taking oaths that infringe on the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held (EEOC # 01890285 dated April 2, 1990) that even though an Oath is required by statute, it must be modified as necessary to accommodate an individual’s religious rights. Also, White House Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace, August 19, 1997, state that "where an agency’s work rule imposes a substantial burden on a particular employee’s exercise of religion, the agency…should grant the employee an exemption from that rule, unless the agency has a compelling interest in denying the exemption and there is no less restrictive means of furthering the interest."

Introduction

The oath of office for United States president, as specified in Article II the constitution, does not include the phrase "so help me God." Contrary to the Architect of the Capital description of President Washington's Inaugural, the the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the 54th Presidential Inaugural Official Guide Book (page 28), the 54th Presidential Inaugural Official Program (page 21), Donald R. Kennon, Chief Historian, United States Capitol Historical Society, Dr. Marvin Kranz, historical specialist (now retired), Manuscript Division, Library of Congress , the Public Broadcasting Service Online Newshour , the CNN Presidential Inaugural Timeline , WETA Explore DC, the BBC Guide to 2001 inauguration ceremony, the History News Network, C-SPAN in the classroom, Chief Justice Rehnquist writing for the majority in ELK GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST. V. NEWDOW, Justice Scalia's dissent in McCREARY COUNTY, KENTUCKY, et al., PETITIONERS v. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF KENTUCKY et al., an article "Here's the official oath of office", Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 21, 2001, a 02/13/2001 opinion of the Supreme Court of Missouri (SC82412) Robert E. Oliver, et al., v. State Tax Commission of Missouri, et al., the description of President George HW Bush's inaugural address in the Senate Congressional Record for January 20, 1989, President George Bush's National Day of Prayer statement May 1, 2008, and many others, there appears to be no reliably corroborated contemporaneous evidence that any president (excluding Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy) voluntarily appended those words to the oath of office until Chester A Arthur's 1881 inauguration. Both the New York Times (page 5) and the Washington Post of September 23, 1881 and many other newspapers reported that Chester Arthur appended those words to his Oath of Office.

Since about March 2007, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies website has hosted a "So Help Me God" video on their "History: Facts and First" web page that features a Senate Historical Office employee (Beth Hahn) claiming that all presidents, starting with George Washington, appended that phrase to their oath office. Daniel Walker Howe, Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus, Oxford University and Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, said of that video "I am persuaded by your presentation of the lack of evidence to substantiate the surprising claim being made by Beth Hahn." (email 07-11-2008). An article in USA Today "No proof Washington said 'so help me God' -- will Obama?" January 7, 2009, by Cathy Lynn Grossman, quoted Beth Hahn as saying "When I made the video, it was common wisdom that he said it, and I did not check it. After investigating this, I would say there is no eyewitness documentation that he did — or did not — say this."

Several educational websites, after being alerted about this lack of historical evidence, have removed the unsubstantiated claim that GW appended shmG, including websites sponsored by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/inaugural-quiz/answer-04.html), White House Historical Association, U. S. Capitol Historical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Shenandoah Caverns & American Celebration on Parade. Dr. Juretta Jordan Hecksher, a Library of Congress’s Digital Reference Team employee, wrote in an email that a colleague of hers at the Library of Congress, Kenneth Drexler, who was asked to research this issue, concluded "The question was whether or not there is primary-source evidence that Washington said 'so help me, God' in 1789. The short answer is that I could find no evidence that he did." A reproduction of the email can be found on History is Elementary Blog, November 12, 2006. The revelation that "so help me God" is another George Washington myth is slowly going public and spreading. One of the earliest internet logs to post on this topic is Boston 1775 blog, October 14, 2006 with updates Boston 1775 blog, April 30, 2008 and Boston 1775 blog January 12, 2009. A third blog to cover this topic is Positive Liberty blog, November 24, 2006. Hopefully, more action will be taken to correct the historical record on web sites, in future books and statements of historians, comments by Supreme Court Justices, and maybeeven politicians. A new book, Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of our President 1789-2009, by Jim Bendat, 2008, iUniverse Star, New York, p. 21, correctly characterizes the GW appended shmG claim as a "legend" and on page 23 says:

There are no contemporary accounts indicating that Washington actually said "so help me God"

The latest effort to defend the claim that George Washington appended shmG to his first presidential oath of office is in an appendix of the book So Help Me God — The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State, Reverend Forrest Church, September 2007, Harcourt Press that is titled "Did George Washington say, 'So help me God,'?" . The Rev. Church makes two new arguments which are both mistaken. One is that David Humphreys, who was Washington's "principal aide" and who accompanied General Washington to Federal Hall Inauguration Day, rejoiced at George Washington's "civil piety" in an article published nine days after the inauguration in the Pennsylvania Mercury, May 9, 1789. That civil piety rejoice quote is part of a concluding paragraph of a serialized letter that started back on April 9, 1789, and continued regularly in the Tu, Th, & Sa weekly editions for the greater part of a month. The letter was addressed to "Mr. Humphreys" and at its conclusion on May 9th the letter is signed by "Apocalypsophilos". The Philadelphia Federal Gazette, 9 May 1789 featured a reprint of this article. The introduction to the reprint reads: "Extract from an essay published by Mr. Humphreys, in the Pennsylvania Mercury, this morning." The publisher of the Pennsylvania Mercury at that time was Daniel Humphreys. David Humphrey's father Daniel died September 2, 1787 and David's brother Daniel was born May 4 1779. So the PA Mercury publisher Daniel couldn't be either of them. The anonymous author of this letter to the publisher of the PA Mercury explained that it was written in response to an "alleged" Indian speech which he characterized as "a stupid nonsensical squib thrown out against the christian religion by some person, who preferred heathenism to christianity." Reverend Church has acknowledged he was mistaken in identifying the author of the letter as David Humphreys and promised to correct the version of his book's appendix that he maintains on the internet.

Reverend Church's second new argument is that Thomas Jefferson's March 2, 1801 letter to Chief Justice John Marshall sought reassurance from Marshall that he wouldn't be expected to append shmG to his oath of office. This is also incorrect. The first law passed by Congress was titled "act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths". Section 4 of that law read " ... all officers ... under the authority of the United States, shall, before they act in their respective offices, take the same oath or affirmation ... " As a former Secretary of State and Vice President, Jefferson would have taken that oath. Article II of the constitution specifies a presidential oath. Unlike Washington and Adams, Jefferson was not involved in writing or approving either of the oath laws (as minister to France from 1785 to 1789 he was unable to attend the Constitutional Convention and he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington from 1789-1793). Jefferson's letter sought nothing more or less than clarification from the Chief Justice whether, as President-elect, he had to recite both oaths or just the presidential oath specified in the constitution. Jefferson was probably aware that judges had to swear to two different oaths, the federal oath for all officers and a judicial oath. Jefferson noted that the oath "prescribed by the Act of Congress" was similar to ("seems to comprehend the substance of") the constitutional oath and expressed skepticism that Congress had the authority to specify an additional oath for President. The Chief Justice replied that, in his judgement, the constitutional oath is "the only oath to be administered".

Another argument made by Forrest Church is that Washington Irving was correct with the other details of the inauguration and therefore his claim that George Washington appended shmG should be given the benefit of any doubt. Some discussion of why it is prudent to not trust the reliability of Washington Irving's and Rufus Wilmot Griswold's writings in general appears later in this essay. However, to respond specifically to this particular argument now, the reason that other historical details of the inauguration appear to be correct is that they were based on the previously published biography of George Washington by Mr. Sparks, from George Washington's manuscripts in the Department of State, and apparantly copied (without acknowledgement or permission) from Memoir of the life of Eliza S. M. Quincy, ed. E S Quincy, Boston [Printed by J. Wilson] 1861. But Mr. Sparks' biography, George Washington's manuscripts, and Eliza Quincy's Memoir all fail to support the claim that GW appended shmG.

Newspapers reported that the horse drawn coach carrying George Washington to the ceremony bore the Beekman family coat of arms (the elegant coach with its gilded trim was loaned out for the inaugural parade by the wealthy Beekman family). Irving misdescribes the inaugural coach coat of arms thusly: "on the panels of which were emblazoned the arms of the United States." Furthermore, there is a discrepancy in Washington Irving's account of the inauguration as described in the bibliographical note for Part 3 of Washington and His Colleagues: A Chronicle of the Rise and Fall of Federalism, by Henry Jones Ford, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1918

The style maintained by Washington early became a subject of party controversy and to this may be attributed a noticeable variation in accounts given by different authors. For instance, Washington Irving, who as a child witnessed the first inauguration parade, says in his _Life of Washington_ that the President's coach "was drawn by a single pair of horses." But the detailed account given in the _New York Packet_ of May 1, 1789, the day after the ceremony, says that "the President joined the procession in his carriage and four." The following authorities may be consulted on the point:

B.J. Lossing, article in The Independent, vol. xli, April 25, 1889.

Martha J. Lamb, article in Magazine of American History, vol. xx, December, 1888.

GW exhibited an extreme reticence to disclose his personal feelings in general and on religion in particular. Historian Paul Boller, whose book on GW and Religion published over 35 years ago is still considered one of the best works on the subject, wrote, "When it came to religion, GW was, if anything, more reserved than he was about anything else pertaining to his life." Bishop William White, the Anglican clergyman who was well acquainted with GW wrote, "I knew no man who seemed so carefully to guard against the discoursing of himself or of his acts, or of anything pertaining to him." Historian Dorothy Twohig, retired editor of the GW Papers, once made this comment: "It took me more than 12 years, working almost daily with George Washington, to get a sense of who the man was. He was so cautious, so reserved, so concerned with precedent and with his reputation that he rarely committed to paper anything for which he could be held responsible." George Washington often used the word "Providence" along with a remarkable number of different names for deity such as "the supreme disposer of all events", "the Almighty ruler of the universe", the "great governor of the Universe", and dozens of others. His use of the word "God" in contexts where he was expressing his own belief, as opposed to either describing other people's beliefs or repeating statements written by others, was relatively infrequent.

George Washington's 18th century oath history

In colonial Virginia and North Carolina, all justices of the peace, vestrymen, officers in the militia and other appointed officials of the King were required to take the following series of four oaths as a condition of appointment. All four oaths appear in Old Church Ministers and Families of Virginia In Two Volumes, by Bishop Meade, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1857 Vol. II pp. 41-2.

1. Oath of Allegiance

   I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty, King George the Second. So help me God.

2. Oath of Abjuration

   I do swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position that Princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I do declare that no foreign Prince, Prelate, Person, State or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, preeminence or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me God.

3. Oath of Allegiance

   I do truly and sincerely acknowledge and promise, testify and declare, in my conscience, before God and the world, that our Sovereign Lord, King George the Second, is lawful and rightful King of this realm and all his Majesty’s dominions and countries hereunto belonging; and I do solemnly and sincerely declare that I do believe in my conscience that the person pretended to be the Prince of Wales during the life of the late King James, and since his decease pretending to be, and taking upon himself the style and title of the king of England, or by the name of James III, or of Scotland by the name of James VIII, or the style and title of King of Great Britain, hath not any right whatsoever to the crown of this realm, or any other dominion hereunto belonging; and I do renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him, and I do swear that I will bear faithful and true allegiance to H. M. King George II, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his person, crown or dignity; and I will do my utmost to endeavor to disclose and make known to his Majesty and his successors all treasonable and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know to be against him, or any of them; and I do faithfully promise, to the utmost of my power, to support, maintain and defend the successor of the crown against him, the said James, and all other persons whatsoever, which succession, by an act entitled ‘A act for the further limitation of the crown and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject,’ is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, late Electress and Duchess, dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants; and all other these things I do plainly and severally acknowledge and swear, according to these express words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common sense understanding of the same words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret reservation whatsoever; and I do make this recognition, acknowledgement, abjuration, renunciation, and promise, heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian. So help me God.

4. Test Oath

   I do declare that I do believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or in the elements of bread and wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever.;

The following is quoted from Professional Surveyor, September 2000, Volume 20, Number 8 History Corner:George Washington (1732-1799) Surveyor and Cartographer, Part 1, by Silvio A. Bedini. "In the records for Culpeper County for July 20, 1749: George Washington, Gent, produced a commission from the President and Masters of William and Mary College, appointing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read and thereupon he took the usual oath to his majesty's person and government and took and subscribed the adjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of surveyor, he became an officer of the colony. He was seventeen years of age at the time. LAWS OF VIRGINIA, OCTOBER 1748--22d GEORGE II. CHAP. XIX specifies the oath as "That he will truly and faithfully, to the best of his knowledge and power, discharge and execute his trust, office, and employment."

February 1, 1753 George Washington was appointed by the royal governor Robert Dinwiddle to the position of major in the Virginia militia. The following year he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and then colonel. Every commission officer in the militia was required to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, the abjuration oath, and subscribe the same, with the test. At the start of a court martial proceeding militia officers had to take this additional oath:

I A. B. do swear, That I will do equal right and justice to all men, according to the act of assembly, for the better regulation of the Militia.

From the Records of the County Court of Fairfax, February 16th, 1763: "George Washington Esqr. took the oaths according to Law repeated and subscribed the Test and subscribed to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England in order to qualify him to act as a Vestryman of Truro Parish " in Pohick. The vestryman oath was as follows:

I, AB, as I do acknowledge myself a true son of the Church of England, so do I believe the articles of faith therein professed, and do oblige myself to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline therein taught and established; and that, as Vestryman of this Parish, I will well and truly perform my duty therein, being directed by the laws and customs of this country, and the canons of the Church of England, so far as they will suit our present capacity; and this I shall sincerely do, according to the best of my knowledge, skill, cunning, without fear, favor, or partiality; so help me God.

The Articles of Confederation, which had been proposed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 11, 1776 (before independence), and was agreed to by Congress on November 15, 1777, and "ratified and in force" on March 1, 1781, mentioned only one oath, and that was neither an oath of office nor an oath of allegiance, but a juridical oath to be administered to "commissioners or judges" temporarily appointed to decide "disputes and differences" between states of the confederation. The specified oath was "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, according to the best of his judgement, without favor, affection or hope of reward".

The 1777 Virginia Oath of Allegiance was required for all "free born male inhabitants of this state, above the age of sixteen years"

Some people argue that in Washington's day not appending the words "So help me God" to a sworn oath would be an unthinkable departure from tradition. That is not true. Starting in 1776, all civil and military officers were required to sign a renunciation of allegiance to Great Britain. Here is the revised oath of allegiance adopted Feb. 3, 1778 by the Continental Congress (Journals of the Continental Congress, 196). No mention of God. Here are Continental Congress resolutions specifying the loyalty oath adopted February 3, 1778 (Journals of the Continental Congress, 197). The "So help me God" phrase is outside of the quoted oath apparently to make it optional. George Washington's Valley Forge oath of allegiance signed on May 12, 1778 has no "so help me God". However, the Continental Congress resolution establishing and regulating the Board of Treasury included an oath for Treasury officers adopted September 26, 1778 that includes the phrase "the presence of Almighty God."

An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths, which specified the oath for Congress and for the executive branch (excluding the President), was the first law passed by the U.S. Congress, initially meeting in New York city, after the ratification of the constitution. The chronology, as reported in History of Congress: Exhibiting a Classification of the Proceedings of the Senate and the House of Representatives, by John Agg, Cary, Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1834, pages 12-14, is as follows:

1. April 6, 1789 the House appointed a committee to prepare a bill "to regulate the taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by the sixth Article of the Constitution." The House then voted for the following wording for their own oath: "I, A B a Representative of the United States in the Congress thereof, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) in the presence of Almighty GOD, that I will support the Constitution of the United States. So help me GOD." Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 101.
2. April 8, Chief Justice of New York administered the [shmG] oath to House members. The Chief Justice of New York at this time Was Richard Morris. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 105.
3. April 14, a bill was presented to the House by Representative White. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 128.
4. April 16, the bill was read a second time and committed. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 157.
5. April 20, the House made itself into a committee of the whole to discuss an oath bill. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 183.
6. April 22, the House committee of the whole reported the bill with amendments. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 199.
7. April 25, the committee reported an amended bill to the whole House. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 208.
8. April 27 the House reads and approves the bill, which specifies "I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States.", and forwards it to the Senate for its consideration. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 215.
9. April 28, the Senate receives and reads the bill.
10. April 29 the Senate reads the bill a second time and organizes its committee to study the bill. Annals of Congress, Senate, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 26.
11. April 30, GW takes his oath of office as stated in the Constitution in the presence of Congress.
12. May 2, The Senate reports the bill with amendments which were concurred the next day.
13. May 5, the Senate reads the bill a third time and passed the Act "with amendments". Annals of Congress, Senate, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 31.
14. May 6, the House passed the amended bill with an added amendment that the state legislatures take the oath at their next session. Journal of the House Representatives: 1st-13th Congress, page 29.
15. May 7, the Senate agreed to bill as amended by the House. Journal of the House Represenatives: 1st-13th Congress, page 31.
16. May 18, the Senate appoints Mr. Lee to represent the Senate in a joint committee with the House
17. May 19, the House appoints Mr. Partridge and Mr. Floyd to the joint committee. Journal of the House Represenatives: 1st-13th Congress, page 38.
18. May 21, The engrossed bill was signed by the Speaker of the House. Journal of the House Represenatives: 1st-13th Congress, page 39.
19. May 22, the bill is presented to the president.
20. June 1, The House receives the message that GW signed the bill into law. Annals of Congress, Senate, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 43.
21. June 2, Speaker of the House administered the new oath to House of Representatives who had not taken previous oath. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 433.
22. June 3, Senate President John Adams administered the new oath to all Senators. Annals of Congress, Senate, 1st Congress, 1st Session, page 45.

There's no statement in the 1st Congress' records indicating that references to God, such as those which appeared in the ad-hoc oath of April 6, were debated by the House or Senate. That ad-hoc House oath is similar to the oaths taken at the time by state of New York government officials, including Richard Morris and NY Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, examples of which can be found in Laws of the State of New York passed at the sessions of the legislature, 1777-1784, Volume I, Albany, NY, Weed, Parsons, and company, 1886, (see page 13 for the legislative oath). The Senate appears to have conducted its business without swearing in its members until after the oath law was passed. Frederick Muhlenberg, the first Speaker of the House, was previously Speaker of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He was accustomed to the protocol in PA wherein an oath was administered to the delegates before they could get down to business. 1776 PA Constitution - Sect. 11 says "And each member, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration ..."

The April 6 House committee consisted of Alexander White and James Madison of Virginia, Jonathan Trumbull Jr of Connecticut, Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire, and Lambert Cadwalader of New Jersey. The Senate committee consisted of Caleb Strong of Massachusetts, William Paterson of New Jersey, George Read of Delaware, William S. Johnson of Connecticut, and John Henry of Maryland. The debate on the oath law, as published in the Congressional Record, focused on whether or not it would exceed the limits of federal authority for the oath law to apply to state officials. An amendment in the House, offered by Richard Lee Brand of Virginia, would have required the state legislatures to take the same oath and applied a penalty for violations. Madison objected and the amendment was defeated. An amendment applying the oath to the state legislatures, executive and judiciary without specifying a penalty for violations was then passed by the Senate. The Senate amended bill was amended one more time and passed in the House. The Senate passed this version of the bill and it became the law. For more details see Negotiating the Constitution: The Earliest Debates over Original Intent, by Joseph Martin Lynch, 1999, Cornell University Press, pages 51-53.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established a second oath for Supreme Court justices and district court judges. That oath ended with "so help me God." However, the act then says "Which words, so help me God, shall be omitted in all cases where an affirmation is admitted instead of an oath."

The Enlisted Oath, passed September 29 1789 (1st Cong., 1st sess., statute 1, chap. 25) reads:

I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the president of the United States of America, and the orders of officers appointed over me.

I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whomsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the president of the United States of America, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the articles of war.

In 1862 "so help me God", was first appended to the federal oath of office. The Civil War-era members of Congress were intent on using the new "Ironclad oath" to keep Confederate loyalists out of the government.

This pattern of initially writing the oaths without reference to God and then subsequently appending a "So help me, God" to the oath in the late middle 19th century is repeated with the "An Act to establish the Post-Office and Post Roads within the United States" The original oath from that Feb. 20, 1792 law was "I do swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from everything forbidden by the law in relation to the establishment of post-offices and post-roads within the United States." Then on June 8, 1872, "An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Post-office Department" specified an oath ending with ShmG Executive Register of the United States: 1789-1902. Compiled by Robert Brent Mosher, Washington, DC. (Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press (The Friedenwald Company); 1903), pages 33 and 200.

The focus of the next three sections of this article is on the presidential oath as actually recited during inaugurations and the origins of the myth that George Washington appended shmG to his first presidential oath of office.

George Washington did not say shmG

Philander D. Chase, Senior Editor, The Papers of George Washington, University of Virginia , wrote in a November 17, 2005 email "... Washington as president was a remarkably strict constructionist of the Constitution, and it seems to me very unlikely that he would have altered or amended the constitutional oath regardless of whatever views he may have had on the subject, and his personal views as far as they are known seem to have been pretty comfortable with the oath as it appears in the Constitution." Charlene Bickford, Director, First Federal Congress Project, George Washington University , also confirms that there is no contemporaneous account of George Washington saying those words. In a November 29, 2004 email she wrote "In fact, the only contemporaneous account that repeats the oath, a letter of the French consul, Comte de Moustier, April 30, 1789 (PDF), states only the constitutional oath. We now believe that Washington consciously (he rarely did something that wasn't very calculated) repeated only the prescribed oath with no reference to God to show strict adherence to the Constitution." In a January 24, 2006 email she further wrote " We have also gone to the editors of the papers of other early presidents (Adams,Jefferson, and Madison) and they could find not proof that these founders said 'So help me God' either."

The Comte de Moustier refers to Eléonor François Élie who was Minister Plenipotentiary of France. He was invited to the Senate Chamber for the occasion and would have gone to the gallery with the rest of Senate for an insider's view of the swearing in ceremony as announced on the Broadside Announcing Ceremonial for Washington's Inauguration, 29 April 1789. He was writing this letter to the Comte de Montmonrin, Armand Marc, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France.

Inquiring with the Library of Congress about their web page Inaugurals of Presidents of the United States: Some Precedents and Notable Events which asserts that George Washington appended shmG to his first oath of office we got the following response on November 6, 2005:

Librarian 1: We apologize for not updating you on the status of your question. We have heard back from the staff in charge of the "'I Do Solemnly Swear . . .': Presidential Inaugurations" collection. They contacted Gerry Gawalt, a specialist in the Library's Manuscript Division, about your question. After speaking with him, they forwarded us the following response:

"[Gerry Gawalt says] that Douglas S. Freeman, Washington's preeminent biographer, cites a Tobias [sp. Tobias] Lear letter of May 3, 1789, to George A. Washington as evidence that Washington added "So Help Me God." While we don't have that letter, Gerry is willing to accept Freeman's work."

If you would like to follow up on this response, you can contact the Manuscript Division directly, addressing your message to Gerry Gawalt, using the web form at: ...

Best wishes, The Digital Reference Team

Library of Congress

George Washington, a Biography, Douglas Southhall Freeman, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948-1957, Volume 6, Ch. Viii, "Inauguration Day is not without Clouds, April 30, 1789", page 192 says:

Secretary of State [Samuel Otis], lifted the Bible and the red cushion from the table and took his station between Washington and the Chancellor. Otis stood with his face to the throng with his face to the throng; the judge and the President were in profile when seen from the street. After the briefest of pauses, when Washington saw the Judge was ready, he put his right hand on the Bible. "do you solemnly swear," asked the Chancellor, "that you will, to the best of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States?" "I solemnly swear," Washington answered - and repeated the oath. Reverently he added, "So help me God." He bent forward as he spoke and, before Otis could lift the Bible to his lips, he kissed the books. "It is done," Livingston announced, and, turning to the crowd, he made a broad gesture with his hand and shouted, "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" The roar of the throng came back in an instant, joyfully and sustained. Livingston's was taken up, and with it came clearly, "God bless our President." <50>

fn 50 Lear's letter of May 3, 1789, as supra [On pg 185 fn 3 reads: Lear's letter of May 3, 1789 to George A. Washington; Duke Univ. MSS]

However, Lear's letter reads as follows (page 4 of letter):

"They received the President in the most respectful manner; and the Vice President conducted him to a spacious elevated seat at the head of the Room.____ A dead and solemn silence prevailed! _____ In a few moments the Vice President arose, and informed the President all things were prepared to administer the OATH, whenever he saw fit to proceed to the Balcony to take it. He immediately descended from his seat and advanced through the middle door of the hall into the Balcony. ___ The Oath was administered in Public by Chancellor Livingston___ and the moment the Chancellor proclaimed him President of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA! the air was rended by repeated shouts and hurrars____ God Bless our Washington!"

Tobias Lear was George Washington's personal secretary. In addition to the aforementioned letter to George Augustine Washington, George Washington's nephew who was at that time managing the affairs of Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate, Lear's manuscript diary entry of April 30, 1789, [fn. 9 - Jared Sparks, The Writings of George Washington, pub. 1836; Vol. X, Appendix: p.463 ] that also appears on the University of Virginia website titled George Washington Papers - Documents, First Inaugural Address, 30 April 1789, New York reads as follows: "The Oath was administered in Public by Chancellor Livingston --- and the moment the Chancellor proclaimed him President of the United States, the air was rent by repeated shouts and huzzas" This essentially matches up with text from Lear's aforementioned letter. NY Journal & Weekly - Thursday May 7, 1789 says "here in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens the oath, prescribed by the constitution, was administered to him by the Hon. R. R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York. The Chancellor then proclaimed him the PRESIDENT of the United States, which was followed by the instant discharge of 13 cannon, and loud repeated shouts ." The Daily Advertiser [Vol. V.] New York, FRIDAY, May 1, 1789 says "He took the oath prescribed by the constitution, which was administered to him by the Hon. R. R. Livingston, Esq; Chancellor of New - York. Immediately after he took the oath, the Chancellor proclaimed him President of the United States." Multiple first hand accounts are detailed in Washington's Birthday by Robert Haven Schauffer, 1910, New York, Moffat, Yard and Company, page 10, "Extracts from the Contemporary Newspapers and other Accounts of the Inauguration of our First President in 1789." Another copy of Washington's birthday, by Robert Haven Schauffler is on the Project Gutenberg eBook site.

Typical first hand newspaper accounts, none of which mention shmG, are found in the Gazette of the United States (NY) May 2, 1789:

When within a proper distance of the State-House the troops formed a line on both sides of the way. THE PRESIDENT passing through was conducted into the Senate Chamber, and introduced to both Houses of Congress.
Immediately after, accompanied by the two Houses, he was conducted into the Gallery adjoining the Senate Chamber, and fronting Broad-Street, where in presence of an immense concourse of citizens, the oath, prescribed by the Constiution, was administered to him by the Hon. R.R. Livingston, Esq. Chancellor of the State of New York The Chancellor then proclaimed him THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, which was followed by the instant discharge of 13 cannon, and loud repeated shouts: THE PRESIDENT bowing to the people, the air again rang with their acclamations: He retired with the two Houses to the Senate Chamber, where he made the following SPEECH

When they came within a short distance of the Hall, the troops formed a line on both sides of the way, and his Excellency passed though the ranks -- was conducted into the building, and in the Senate Chamber introduced to both Houses of Congress -- immediately afterwards, accompanied by the two Houses, he went into the Gallery adjoining the Senate Chamber, and fronting Broad-Street, where in preference of an immense concourse of citizens, he took the oath, prescribed by the Consecution, was administered to him by the Hon. R.R. Livingston, Esq. Chancellor of the State of New York
Immediately after he had taken the oath the Chancellor proclaimed him President of the United States:-- was answered by the discharge of 13 guns, and by loud repeated shouts: The President bowed to the people, the air again rang with their acclamations: His Excellency with the two Houses, then retired to the Senate Chamber, where he made the following SPEECH

Yesterday the great illustrious WASHINGTON, the favorite son of liberty, and deliverer of his country, entered upon the execution of the office of the First Magistrate of the united States of America; to which station he had been unanimously called by the united voice of the people. The ceremony which took place on this occasion was truly grand and pleasing, and every heart seemed anxious to testify the joy felt on so memorable an event. His Excellency was escorted from his house , by troop of Light Dragoons, and the legion under the command of Col. Lewis, attended by a committee of the senate and the House of Representatives, to Federal Hall, where he was formally received by both Houses of Congress, assembled in the Senate Chamber; after which he was conducted to the gallery in front of the hall, accompanied by all the Members when the oath prescribed by the Constitution was prescribed to him by the Chancellor of the State, who then said--
Long live GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States; which was answered by an immense concourse of citizens, assembled on the occasion by the loudest plaudit and acclamation, that love and veneration ever inspired. His excellency then made a speech to both Houses, and then proceeded, attended by Congress, to St Paul.s Church, where Divine Service was performed by the Right Rev. Samuel Prevost, after which his Excellency was conducted in form to his own house. . . .

NEW-YORK, May 1 ...
Yesterday [April 30] at two o'clock was solemnly Inaugurated into office, our ILLUSTRIOUS PRESIDENT.

The ceremony was begun by the following procession from the Federal state-House to the President's house, viz.

Troop of Horse.
Assistants.
Committee of Representatives.
Committee of Senate.
Gentlemen to be admitted in the Senate Chamber.
Gentlemen in coaches.
Citizens on foot.

On their arrival, the President joined the procession in his carriage and four, and the whole moved through the principal streets to the State-House...
When the van reached the State-House, the troops opening their ranks formed an avenue, through which, after alighting, the President advancing to the door, was conducted to the Senate Chamber, where he was received by both branches of Congress, and by them accompanied to the balcony or outer gallery in front of the State-House, which was decorated with a canopy and curtains of red interstreaked with white for the formal occasion. In this manner the oath of office required by the constitution was administered by the Chancellor of this state, and the illustrious WASHINGTON thereupon declared by the said Chancellor PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

I was extremely anxious to arrive here, in order to be present at the meting of the President and the two Houses. That event, however, did not take till Thursday last, when The President was qualified in the open galleryof the Congress House, in the sight of many thousand people. The scene was solemn and awful beyond description. It would seem extraordinary that the administration of an oath, a ceremony so very common and familiar, should in so great a degree excite the public curiosity; but the circumstances of his election -- the impression of his past services -- the concourse of spectators -- the devout fervency with which he repeated the oath -- and the reverential manner in which he bowed down and kissed the sacred volume -- all these conspired to render it one of the most august and interesting spectacles ever exhibited on this globe. It seemed, from the number of witnesses, to be a solemn appeal to Heaven and earth at once. Upon the subject of this great and good man I may, perhaps, be an enthusiast; but I confess that I was under an awful and religious persuasion, that the gracious Ruler of the Universe was looking down at that moment with peculiar complacency on an act which to a part of his creatures was so very important. Under this impression, when the Chancellor pronounced, in a very feeling manner, "Long live GEORGE WASHINGTON", my sensibility was wound up to such a pitch, that I could do no more than wave my hat with the rest, without the power of joining in the repeated acclamations which rent the air.

Early biographies of George Washington include The Monthly visitor, and entertaining pocket companion, Vol. I, "Memoirs of George Washington" 1797, London, H.D. Symonds [etc.], p. 435, which quotes the oath recitation. Washington's Political Legacies: To which is Annexed an Appendix, by J. M. Williams, 1800, Boston, p. 55. The five volume The Life of Washington, Vol. 5, by John Marshall, 1805-1807, p. 167. which was written at the request of a nephew of George Washington, Bushrod Washington. A 1926 re-publication of the original 5 volume set has a picture of a painting by Alonzo Chappell added with a comment underneath that is almost a word for word copy of Griswold's account that George Washington said "so help me God." It is important to note that this was a 1926 addition that appears nowhere in the original publication. Another was a popular biography Life of George Washington, by David Ramsay, 1807, New York, Hopkins & Seymour, p. 238. The Life of George Washington: Commander in Chief of the American Army Through the revolutionary war, by Aaron Bancroft, 1808, London, John Stockdale, p. 372. The life of George Washington, by John Corry, 1809, New York, M'Carty & White, p. 236, which quotes the oath. The Life of George Washington, "Parson" Mason Locke Weems, 1810. Biographical memoirs of the illustrious General George Washington, by John Corry, 1812, Baltimore, W. Warner, p. 66, quotes the oath recitation. The Life of George Washington, by Anna C Reed and Thomas Sully and George Gilbert, 1829, Philadelphia : American Sunday-School Union, p. 219. A Life of Washington, Vol. II, by James Kirke Paulding, 1835, New York, Harper & Brothers, p. 169. Lives of the presidents of the United States, by Robert W Lincoln, 1836, New York, N. Watson & co., p. 57. Monuments of Washington's patriotism: containing a facsimile of his publick accounts, By Major William Jackson, 1838, City of Washington [D.C.]: P. Force, printer., page 9. Life of George Washington, by Jared Sparks, 1839, Pub. Tappan and Dennet, 1843 (Ch. XVI - p 408/409). The life of George Washington, first president of the United States, by Samuel George Arnold, 1840, New-York, T. Mason and G. Lane, p. 195. Pictorial life of George Washington: embracing anecdotes, by H Hastings Weld , 1845, Philadelphia, Lindsay and Blakiston, p. 161. The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, by Jared Sparks, 1855, Boston, Little, Brown, and Co., p. 463. None of these biographies depicts Washington as saying shmG.

Early (shortly after he died), non-biography, accounts of the inauguration include Universal history, ancient and modern, from the earliest records of time, by William Fordyce Mavor, 1804, New York, Isaac Collins and son, p. 288, which quotes the oath. Transactions of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts in the state of New York. Vol. III., by Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, Websters and Skinners, 1814, Albany [N.Y.], p. 52. A geographical, historical, commercial, and agricultural view of the United States of America, by Daniel Blowe, 1820, London, Edwards & Knibb, p. 188, quotes the oath. The description of the city of New York containing its population, by James Keir Hardie, 1827, New York, Sam Marks, p. 120. State Sovereignty: And a Certain Dissolution of the Union, by Benjamin Romaine , 1832, New York, James Kennaday, p. 54. A noteworthy account of George Washington's inauguration is found in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, by Joseph Gales, 1834, Gales and Seaton (Vol. 1 p 26-27) says ...the oath was administered. After which, the Chancellor proclaimed "Long live George Washington, President of the United States." That same year is History of Congress: exhibiting a classification of the proceedings of the Senate, Volume I, by John Agg, Carey, 1834, Philadelphia, Lea & Blanchard, p.29. That is followed by The history and antiquities of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania:, by John Warner Barber, 1841, New York, Dorr, Howland & Co., p. 470. A congressional manual; or, outline of the order of business : in the House of Representatives of the United States, by Joel B Sutherland, 1841, Philadelphia, Peter Hay & Co., p. 87. A Complete Descriptive and Statistical Gazetteer of the United States of America, by Daniel Haskel and J Calvin Smith, 1843. New York, Sherman & Smith, p. 17. The Addresses and Messages of the Presidents of the United States, by Edwin Williams, 1846, New York, E. Walker, p. 80.

Another book that quotes the oath recitation is A Pictorial History of the United States of America: from the discovery of the Northmen in the twentieth century to the present time, by John Frost, 1849, p. 188. That same year is New-York as it was, during the latter part of the last century. An anniversary address delivered before the St. Nicholas Society of the City of New York, December 1st, 1848, by William Alexander Duer, 1849, New York, Stanford and Swords, p. 27. Two years later is The Constitution of the United States of America : with an alphabetical analysis, by William Hickey, 1851, Philadelphia, T.K. & P.G. Collins, p. 192. Next is History of the U.S. of America, by Richard Hildreth, 1852, New York, Harper, p. 57. The Washington and Georgetown directory, strangers' guide-book for Washington, and congressional and clerks' register., Comp and pub. by Alfred Hunter, 1853, page A083. New York : a historical sketch of the rise and progress of the metropolitan city of America, by Daniel Curry, 1853, New York, Carlton & Phillips, p. 164. Still no shmG.

The earliest known published claim that George Washington added that phrase to his oath appears in a book that was initially published in 1854. The republican court; or, American society in the days of Washington, by Rufus Wilmot Griswold, 1854-1856, New York [etc.]: D. Appleton and company, Page 141. Griswold says that he pieced together his account after having a conversation with Dr. [John Wakefield] Francis and Washington Irving during which time Irving had related "his recollections of the scene." Griswold then recalled Irving’s presence during the ceremony by saying, "He had watched the procession till the President entered Federal Hall, and from the corner of New street and Wall street had observed the subsequent proceedings in the balcony." Washington Irving was six years old at the time of George Washington's inauguration. The corner of New Street and Wall Street, where Washington Irving is also identified as claiming he witnessed the inaugural in Century Magazine, volume 37, issue 6, April 1889, page 828, footnote 1 "The Inauguration of Washington" by Winthrop Clarence Bowen, is about 200 feet west from Federal Hall. From that distance and sideway viewing angle it is unlikely anyone would have a clear view of the activities or be able to hear what was said. Liza was just across the street from the balcony and she said she was "so near," that she "could almost hear him [George Washington] speak" when he took his oath. Yet somehow, Griswold claims to know that George Washington recited the shmG phrase "with eyes closed". Irving, Griswold, and Dr. John W. Francis, who went to the same primary school as Irving, all attended the same James Fenimore Cooper Monument Association meetings in 1851 and 1852. The Reverend R. W. Griswold was born in 1815 so he could not have been an eyewitness. Dr. Francis was born in 1789 and so he couldn't have been Griswold's source either.

Published shortly after was Life of George Washington, by Washington Irving, 1857, New York,: G. P. Putnam &amp; co. Page 514. According to Pierre M. Irving and Washington Irving: A Collaboration in Life and Letters, by Wayne R. Kime, 1977, Waterloo, Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, page 133, Irving had the idea for a Washington biography in 1825, started research by the early 1840s, and was writing by the early 1850s. Furthermore, it's clear that Washington's first inauguration was important to Irving's conception of that biography. Up until May 1855, he planned to end with that scene. Even after Irving decided to cover Washington's presidential terms, he wanted the first inauguration to be the climax of volume 4 (see pages 260, 297, and 326 of Pierre M. Irving and Washington Irving). That means Irving was mulling over the inauguration scene, possibly even drafting it, well before he published.

Irving's nephew's long biography of his uncle The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, by Pierre Monroe Irving, 1869, G.P. Putnam's sons, doesn't mention Washington Irving viewing the first presidential inauguration, even briefly, although it did describe Irving's personal encounter with Washington as a young boy. Irving had discussed his biography project with his nephew since the 1840s, and Pierre was assisting his uncle with writing it in the mid-1850s. So if Irving was recalling the inaugural based on his personally witnessing the events then Pierre would certainly have been privy to this and presumably would have recognized its importance to his project. This lack of confirmation that Irving witnessed the first presidential inauguration thus leaves room for doubt that six year old Irving really was a witness to the inauguration as Griswold claimed.

The editor of the Memoir of the life of Eliza S. M. Quincy, ed. E S Quincy, Boston [Printed by J. Wilson] 1861, complains in a footnote at the bottom of page 52 that

The previous pages, which describe the entrance and inauguration of Washington, were sent to Mr. Irving, in 1856, at his request, by the Editor, and are inserted in his "Life of Washington," vol iv. pp. 510, 513, 514, but without reference to their source.

Schroeder and Kirkland mingled with Griswold and Irving in the same New York city literary circles. Nowhere, among these four authors, does anyone specify just how they came by their claim that George Washington included the words "So help me God". Schroeder, an Episcopalian minister, died on Feb. 26, 1857 before he completed his book. Griswold had a hand in completing Schroeder's book. Kirkland mimicked Griswold and wrote, "..., he [Washington] was observed to say audibly, 'I swear!' adding, with closed eyes, as if to collect all his being into the momentous act - 'So help me God!'" It thus appears possible that the Reverand Griswold originated the assertion that George Washington appended "so help me God" and also had a hand in getting the other three authors to assert the same.

According to The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, by Franklin Steiner, 1936, most of Washington Irving's biography of George Washington is copied from the biography written by historian Sparks, Irving did little if any original research for his popular biography of George Washington. Similarly, in his article on Washington in the Dictionary of American Biography (1936), J C Fitzpatrick wrote, "Washington Irving, Life of GW (5 vols., 1855-1859) is satisfactory from most viewpoints, though its reliance on [Jared] Sparks lessens the confidence it would otherwise command." Sparks biography, although well researched, was written in a biased manner that exaggerates and promotes Washington's status as Hero. The following description of the bias of Jared Spark's biography of George Washington is from The Americans: The National Experience by Daniel J Boorstin "Part Seven - SEARCH FOR SYMBOLS Ch. 39 - The Mythologizing of George Washington"

Sparks followed the style of his day. His biography, which prefaced the writings, was pious, pallid, and reverential. The Hero was of commanding figure, symmetrical features, indomitable courage, pure character, and perfect judgment; "his moral qualities were in perfect harmony with those of his intellect." Sparks's appendix, "Religious Opinions and Habits", was an ingenious whitewash in which Washington's failure to attend communion became an argument for his religiosity. "He may have believed it improper publicly to partake of an ordinance, which, according to the ideas he entertained of it, imposed severe restrictions on outward conduct, and a sacred pledge to perform duties impracticable in his situation. Such an impression would be natural to a serious mind . . . a man of a delicate conscience and habitual reverence for religion." There was no passage in Washington's writings, Sparks noted, which expressed doubt of the Christian revelation. In a man of such Christian demeanor, what more conclusive proof that he was a true and tolerant Christian?

The writings were edited in a similar spirit. In selecting a mere eleven from what might have filled four times that many volumes, Sparks had ample freedom to ennoble his subject. While Sparks did not actually add passages of his own, he omitted passages at will without warning the reader and he improved the language when it seemed unworthy of the Hero. He explained all this in his introduction: "It would be an act of unpardonable injustice to any author, after his death, to bring forth compositions, and particularly letters, written with no design for their publication, and commit them to press without previously subjecting them to careful revision." Challenged later on his editorial methods, Sparks argued with charming naivete that he was really being true to his subject because Washington himself in his old age revised his early letters. Wherever Sparks had a choice he preferred Washington's own latter revision (again without warning the reader) in place of what had actually been written in the heat of the events. And Sparks made changes of his own. Where, for example, Washington had written of the "rascally crews" of New England privateersmen, Sparks emended the text to read simply the "crews." Washington's reference to the "dirty mercenary spirit" of the Connecticut troops became the "mercenary spirit," and their "scandalous conduct" was softened to their "conduct." "Old Put." became the more dignified "General Putnam." When Washington referred contemptuously to a small sum of money as "but a fleabite at present," Sparks improved it to read "Totally inadequate to our demands at this time." Sparks again and again and again changed the words to make them worthy of his Hero.

Washington Irving also wrote a popular myth-filled 1828 biography of Christopher Columbus. Among other inaccuracies, Irving's book claimed that Columbus had difficulty obtaining support for his plan because Europeans believed that the earth was flat . In fact, few people at the time of Columbus’s voyage, and virtually no sailors or navigators, believed this. Most agreed that the earth was a sphere. Indeed, knowledge of the Earth's spherical nature was not limited to scientists: for instance, Dante's Divine Comedy is based on a spherical Earth. Columbus put forth arguments that were based on the circumference of the sphere. Most scholars accepted Ptolemy's claim that the terrestrial landmass (for Europeans of the time, comprising Eurasia and Africa) occupied 180 degrees of the terrestrial sphere, leaving 180 degrees of water. Griswold has a reputation as a slanderer for his character assassination of Edgar Allen Poe in his inaccurate “Memoir of the Author” which appears in the third volume of Griswold’s collected Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, published Sept. 21, 1850. Griswold claimed himself to be the executor of Poe’s literary estate (Poe's sister Rosalie actually had the legal right to his estate). As such, "he forged letters by Poe and made changes in the texts of Poe's work to support his lies, portraying Poe as a fiend and a drug addict."

After the mid 1850's many books and articles continue to claim that George Washington appended shmG. Examples include Mount Vernon and its associations, by Benson John Lossing, 1859, W.A. Townsend and Co., New York, p. 202. The reconstruction of the government of the United States of America: a Democratic empire advocated, by William B. Wedgwood, 1861, New-York, J. H. Tingley, Page 8. Washington and the American republic ... by Benson John Lossing, c1870, New York, Virtue &amp; Yorston, Page 94. Our first century: being a popular descriptive portraiture of the one hundred great and memorable events of perpetual interest in the history of our country, by Richard Miller Devens, 1876, Springfield, Mass., Toledo, O.: C. A. Nichols &amp; co., A. W. Mills. Page 144. Our country. A household history for all readers, by Benson John Lossing, With illustrations by Felix O. C. Darley, 1877, New York, Johnson, Wilson &amp; co., p. 1124. Harper's popular cyclopaedia of United States history from the aboriginal period to 1876, by Benson John Lossing, 1881, Harper & Brothers, New York, p. 672 depicts George Washington closing his eyes and saying shmG. Centennial Anniversary of Washington's Inauguration. Proceedings in the First Parish Meeting House at Groton, Massachusetts, April 30, 1892. Groton: Printed for private distribution, 1889, Cambridge, University Press: John Wilson and Son. Chapter VIII Inaugural Ceremonies of President Washington by the Rev. Frank C Whitney Page 16. The Century Magazine, volume 37, issue 6, April 1889, pp 830, "The Inauguration of Washington", by Clarence Winthrop Bowen, depicts George Washington reciting the entire oath with shmG appended. Committee on the Centennial of Washington's Inauguration chaired by Clarence Winthrop Bowen (Bowen, Clarence Winthrop. The Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington As First President of the United States Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday April 29th, 30th, and May 1st 1889. Official Programme With Historical Sketches, Committee on the Centennial of Washington's Inauguration,1889, p. 11. The story of the city of New York,. by Charles Burr Todd, 1890, New York & London, G. P. Putnam's sons, page 366, is one of several books that depicts George Washington first saying "I swear" then saying shmG. The History of the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington, N.Y. Bowen, Clarence W. 1892, Page 72. The Washington Post, March 4, 1893 (PDF) says that George Washington "murmured" shmG during his first inauguration. The American metropolis, from Knickerbocker days to the present time: New York City life in all its various phases, by Frank Moss, 1897, New York, P.F. Collier, page 415, also depicts George Washington reciting the entire oath with shmG appended.

upon the upper portico of which the oath of office was administered to the President elect, in the presence of both houses of Congress, by Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State. The words of the oath were audibly, distinctly as by Washington after the Chancellor, in a solemn and impressive manner, and after he had reverently kissed the book, the Chancellor advanced to the balcony of the portico --- and in a loud voice proclaimed to the assembled multitude "Long live George Washington --- President of the United States."

Having taken the oath, Washington reverently bowed and kissed the sacred volume; and the awful suspense of the moment was broken by Chancellor Livingston, who solemnly said, "Long Live George Washington, President of the United States!"

The books cite various eye witnesses to the recitation of the presidential oath: Robert Livingston, Samuel Allyne Otis (1st Secretary of the Senate), Roger Sherman, Richard Henry Lee (a friend of George Washington). Alexander Hamilton, General Henry Knox, General Arthur St. Clair, Baron Steuben, John Adams, George Clinton (Governor of NY), Philip Schuyler, John Jay, Ebenezer Hazard, Samuel Osgood, all of them died before 1830. The names of dignitaries invited are listed in Joint Committee report on the Ceremonial for the Inauguration of the President, April 29, 1789. The claims that George Washington added that phrase thus all appear to be dubious second hand accounts first published 65 years after the fact. It is improbable that GW would have unilaterally made a change to an oath that was agreed upon by 39 members of the Constitutional Convention, many of whom spent months studying and debating the document, with George Washington presiding, and no one would write about this anomaly for over six decades. The handwritten notes in the Journal of the Secretary of the Senate, by Samuel Otis, the Secretary of the Senate, who held the bible during the inauguration, reported that GW had placed his hand on the Bible and kissed the Bible, which Otis had lifted towards Washington's face, when the oath was concluded. In contrast, he did not record any change to the oath. Charlene Bickford considers this to be particularly significant because "he was clearly trying to record anything precedent setting". The official Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1789, whose contents were debated by the whole Senate each day and are based on the notes written by Otis, omits any mention of the bible.

According to the state of New York law titled An Act to dispense with the usual mode of administering oaths in favor of persons having conscientious scruples respecting the same, passed on the 1st of April, 1778, an oath taker must either "swear by the everliving God" or "lay his her or their hand or hands on the Gospels or kiss the same." Because the first presidential oath ceremony was being administered by the highest judicial official in New York state, some of those involved, including Livingston, may have thought that NY state law should be followed. However, in accord with the consensus of Congressional officials that federal law should prevail over state law on this question (as reflected shortly after in the oath law passed by Congress) there is no mention of the bible in the Journal of the Senate. Contrary to popular myths otherwise, it appears that there was no bible (nor inaugural prayers by the president, nor the president calling the people to pray and acknowledge God, nor inaugural worship services, nor clergy-led inaugural prayers) in the subsequent presidential oath ceremonies up to and including that of John Quincy Adams in 1825.

Unlike Washington's first Inaugural Ceremony, where Chancellor Livingston, a fellow Mason, most likely requested the Bible; where Madison drafted Washington's Inaugural Address; and where Congress laid out the concluding church service, his second Inaugural Ceremony was managed by himself. During the second Inaugural Ceremony, there was no planned church service, no mention of a god in the Inaugural Address, no reports of a Bible being present, and, as during the first inauguration, no "So help me God" appended to the oath of office recitation, in fact not even a single reported reference to the Almighty. So if we are looking to George Washington for the proper precedent to follow, there it is. Thomas Jefferson opted to follow the simplistic example set by Washington's second inauguration, with two notable differences. Jefferson walked to the Senate chamber while Washington arrived in a plush carriage pulled by four of his well-groomed horses. But even here, that particular carriage was selected by Livingston who apparantly favored a more royal style of government ceremony than what Washington appeared to prefer. Also, as at Washington's first inauguration, there were several punctuated volleys of celebratory cannon fire.

No 18th and only one 19th century president appended shmG

A review of contemporaneous accounts of presidential inaugurations prior to and subsequent to Chester Arthur strongly implies that no other United States president appended "so help me God" to his Oath of Office until the 20th century. Since Chester Arthur was a Vice President who automatically became president upon the death of President Garfield, it can be said that no 19th century elected U.S. president appended shmG. Chester Arthur would have been sworn in as vice president using the post Civil War oath that appended shmG. That experience may have influenced him to also append shmG during the presidential inauguration.

William Ferraro, Assistant Professor and Assistant Editor of The Papers of George Washington, wrote (email January 25, 2008) "Like my much more experienced colleague at the Papers of George Washington, Senior Editor Phil Chase, I have come across no contemporary or eyewitness accounts of George Washington's first inauguration to support the tradition that he added the words "So help me God" to the presidential oath."

The Maryland Gazette, Thursday March 14, 1793, page 2 (PDF) provides a detailed account of the swearing in of George Washington during his second inauguration, including a quote of the oath recited without appending shmG. An image of the same article from The Diary, March 7, 1793, page 3 (PDF) and the New York Daily Gazette, March 8, 1793, page 2 (PDF). The New Jersey Journal, March 13, 1793, (PDF), and The Vermont Gazette, March 15, 1793, (PDF), also quote the oath recitation.

The works of Alexander Hamilton ..., by Alexander Hamilton, New York, C.S. Francis & Co., 1851, page 341, has the following transcript of a February 27, 1793 letter from George Washington to Hamilton and knox:

As the day is near at hand when the President elect is to take the oath of qualification, and no mode is pointed out by the Constitution or by law, I could wish that you, Mr. Jefferson (Gen. Knox or Col. Hamilton), and Mr. Randolph, could meet to-inorrow morning, at any place which you may fix between yourselves, and communicate to me the result of your opinions as to time, place, and manner of qualification.

It is our opinion,

1. That the President ought to take the oath in public.
2. That the time be on Monday next, at twelve o'clock in the forenoon.
3. That the place be the Senate chamber.
That the Marshal of the district inform the Vice-President, that the Senate chamber, being the usual place of the President's public acts, is supposed to be the best place for taking the oath, and that it is wished that the chamber be open.
4. That it may be informally notified to the Vice-President, Governor, and Foreign Ministers, that the oath is to be taken at the time and place above mentioned.
5. That Mr. Gushing be requested to attend, and administer the oath.
6. That the President go without form, attended by such gentlemen as he may choose, and return without form, except that he be preceded by the Marshal.

H. Knox.
Edit. Randolph.

A similarly detailed account of the swearing in of John Adams, which also quotes the oath as being recited without appending shmG, can be found in the Pennsylvania Gazette, March 8, 1797, (PDF) the Alexandria Gazette, March 11, 1797, page 2 (PDF), and the Massachusetts Spy, March 15, 1797, (PDF). Examples of an accounts that doe not quote the oath are found in Daily Advertiser, March 8, 1797, (PDF) the Maryland Herald, March 16, 1797, (PDF) and the Ostego Herald, March 23, 1797, (PDF) .

John P. Diggins, Distinguished Professor of History, Graduate Center CUNY, when asked "Can we cite you as a historian who disagrees with the Senate Historical Office assertion that "so help me God" was appended by all presidents? By George Washington? John Adams?" replied "Not only Washington but John Adams has also been distorted and drowned in religiosity. Yes, by all means do add me to your list" (email 07-20-2008).

The Gazette of the United States, March 10, 1801 (PDF) quotes Thomas Jefferson taking the oath without appending shmG as does the Connecticut Gazette, March 18, 1801, (PDF) and the Impartial Register, March 19, 1801, (PDF).

Professor J.C.A. Stagg, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia, who is the Editor in Chief of The Papers of James Madison, wrote (email January 25, 2008) "I can tell you that there is no contemporaneous evidence that Madison took the oath of office in either 1809 or 1813 in the manner described. We have been asked to find such evidence and can find none." Robert B. Bernstein, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School, wrote (email July 08, 2008) "I also do not know of any primary sources or contemporary accounts for any of the first presidential inaugurations -- Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison -- in which the president being sworn in added the phrase "So help me God" to the oath. I know that there is a tradition that Washington added the phrase, but I have never seen any support for it."

A March 4, 1825 diary entry by John Q. Adams says "... and pronounced from a Volume of the Laws held up to me by John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, the Oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The Washington National Intelligencer also reported: "The President-elect [John Q. Adams] then descended from the chair and, placing himself on the right hand of the judges' table, received from the Chief Justice [John Marshall] a volume of the laws of the United States, from which he read, in a loud and clear voice, the oath of office." The Independent Chronicle, July 6, 1825 (PDF) gives a similar account.

The Norwalk Reporter and Huron Advertiser, March 28, 1829 says Andrew Jackson recited "the constitutional oath". The Adams Sentinel , March 11, 1829 says Chief Justice Marshall administered "the oath to support the Constitution" which was followed by the firing of artillery.

The Salem Gazette, March 12, 1833 (PDF) depicts Andrew Jackson reading the oath from a book given to him by Chief Justice John Marshall and kissing the book.

The Adams Sentinel, March 13, 1837 says "the oath prescribed by the Constitution having been administered to the President by the Chief Justice of the U. States, national salutes from the military and naval stations within the city were fired", the president in this case being Martin Van Buren.

The Pittsfield Sun, April 15, 1841 (PDF) quotes John Tyler reciting the oath without appending shmG. So does The Constitution of the United States of America, by Hickey, William L., 1851, page 331. Another source is The Washington and Georgetown directory, strangers' guide-book for Washington, and congressional and clerks' register.: Comp and pub. by Alfred Hunter, 1853, page A087. Also Executive Register of the United States: 1789-1902. Compiled by Robert Brent Mosher, Washington, DC. (Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press (The Friedenwald Company); 1903), page 129 which includes a certification from "William Cranch, chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia" that Tyler "took and subscribed the foregoing oath, before me." There are more like this, but for the sake of brevity they will not be listed here.

The New York Evangelist, March 6, 1845, page 39 (PDF) quotes just the constitutional the oath of office given by the Chief Justice Taney to James Polk.

The New York Evangelist, March 8, 1849, page 39 (PDF) quotes the formula oath of office given by the Chief Justice Taney to Zachary Taylor as does the Massachusetts Ploughman, March 10, 1849, page 2 (PDF). The Republican Compiler, March 12, 1849 says "the oath of office was then administered to the President of the United States by the Chief Justice." The WHIG Almanac and United States Register for 1850, page 5 quotes the oath recitation without shmG.

The Baltimore Sun, July 11, 1850, page 4 (PDF) depicts Millard Fillmore reciting the oath without shmG as follows:

The Speaker stated that the oath of office would now be administered to the President by the Chief Justice of the United States. The House rose and stood until the following oath was administered by Chief Justice Cranch:

I, Millard Fillmore, do solemnly swear 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.

The Tioga Eagle, March 24, 1853 quotes the oath administered to General Pierce by Chief Justice Taney without shmG as does the Bangor Daily Whig And Courier 9 Mar 1853. President Pierce affirmed instead of swearing and did not use a bible. The Annual Register, Or A View Of The History And Politics Of The Year 1853, by Charles William Wason, 1854, London, Woodfall and Kinder, p. 315 quotes the oath recitation without shmG.

The Adams Sentinel, March 9, 1857 quotes the oath recitation with no shmG as follows:

On concluding his address the President elect turned towards Chief Justice Taney, who advanced and extending the Bible toward Mr. Buchanan, administered the oath of office in the terms presented by the Constitution, as follows: "I do solemnly swear 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."

The Macon Daily Telegraph, February 22, 1861 (PDF) reveals that the phrase "so help me God" was appended to the Oath of Office by the President of the Confederate States. Note that the article places emphasis on the use of that phrase as setting the Confederate inauguration apart from those of the US. The article also says that the "Provisional Constitution ... departs but slightly from the constitution of our fathers ... ". Two of the changes were the addition of the phrases "invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God" to the preamble and "year of our Lord" in the clause establishing a Post Office Department. Here is a complete comparison of the US and Confederate constitutions. Although the constitutional differences may have been "slight" in the mind of the author of that article, some of the changes obviously had big implications for slaves, so the invocation of Almighty God's favor and guidance was not benefiting them.

The Baltimore Sun, March 5, 1861, page 1 (PDF) shows Chief Justice Taney reciting the constitutional oath of office to Abraham Lincoln without shmG and then "Having administered the oath, Judge Taney congratulated Mr. Lincoln amidst the loud applause of the assembled spectators, and the stirring music of several bands." Similarly, the Weekly Standard, March 13, 1861 quotes the oath recited without shmG. Also, American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Inaugural Bible, 1861 quotes the recitation of just the constitutional oath. The Life of Abraham Lincoln; from His Birth to His Inauguration as President by Ward Hill Lamon, 1872, Boston, James R. Osgood and Company, page 536, quotes the 1861 oath recitation without shmG. Ward Lamon was one of Lincoln’s few close friends. An eyewiteness account of the oath recitation is provided by a lawyer, Wilder D. Wright, who campaigned for Lincoln. Immediately after the ceremony he wrote this in a letter to his father: "When the address closed, and the cheering subsided, Taney rose, and, almost as tall as Lincoln, he administered the oath, Lincoln repeating it ; and as the words, i preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution came ringing out, he bent and kissed the book." Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight, By Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, page 33.

Lincoln Observed: Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks, edited by Michael Burlingame, 1998, p. 167-169 reveals that Noah Brooks, a political confident of Lincoln, author, and a journalist for the Sacramento Daily Union, claimed that Lincoln added SHMG at his 2nd Inauguration in an March 4, 1865 article published by the Sacramento Daily Union. However, the Introduction of that book has the following commentary

When he wrote about Lincoln's religion, Brooks dubiously ascribed his own Christian piety to the sixteenth president. Shortly after the assassination, Brooks told a clergyman: "I am glad now that I never hesitated, when proper occasion offered, to talk with him upon religious matters, for I think that the best evidences of his belief in Christ are those which I derived in free and easy conversations with him. You know I had an intimate acquaintance with him, which was not hampered or embarrassed by any official or business relations, nor did he have the same undefined reluctance which a man in his position would have had in talking upon religious matters, if I had been a clergyman." Brooks's able biographer, however, thinks it "extremely doubtful" that Lincoln "talked openly to anybody about Christ's atonement for man's sins."

Christ the King, by Reverand James Mitchell Foster, 1894, James H. Earle, Boston, page 277 makes the following observation about Linclon's inaugurations:

Every President, after George Washington and before RB Hayes, took the presidentail oath without an appeal to God, omitting the very essence of the oath. Rev. A. M. Milligan, D.D., wrote Abraham Lincoln before his inaugural in 1861, and also before his second inaugural in 1865, asking him, in deference to the consciences of the Christian people of the land, to take tthe presidential oath in the name of God. He replied both times that God's name was not in the Constitution, and he could not depart from the letter of that instrument. The Bible formula is distinct, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shall swear by his name," We know that since RB Hayes, our Presidents have added to the oath "So help me God." But that is extra-constitutional. The framers of our Constitution took the Bible oath, cut off the name of God and inserted the mutilated oath into our fundamental law. Is that wrong? Again, the Constitution says: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under these United States." If by a "religious test" they had meant "denominational test," we would say, Amen. But it is not so. The intention of this provision cannot be misunterstood. "It was intended to so frame the compact of government that no irreligious man would be ineligible to office --- that even an avowed and practical infidel or atheist might have no obstacle in the way of reaching the highest court of the land." They intended to relegate the question of moral and religious qualifications to the voters. As Winthrop said: "The presumption is that the eyes of the people will be upon the faithful of the land."

Rev. A. M. Milligan, D. D., of Pittsburgh, wrote President Lincoln, in 1861, asking if he would not take the Presidential oath in the name of God. He replied: "The relations between the Northern and Southern States are so strained I would not dare violate the letter of the Constitution. The name of God is not in that instrument."

The New York Herald, April 17, 1865 (PDF), the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 1865, page 231 and the Janesville Weekly Gazette, April 20, 1865 all quote just the constitutional oath being recited without shmG during Andrew Johnson's inauguration. The life and public services of Andrew Johnson, by John Savage, 1866, New York, Derby & Miller, p. 328, and Das Staatsarchiv: sammlung der offiziellen aktenstu¨cke zur geschichte der gegenwart, by Ludwig Karl James Aegidi and Alfred Klauholdm, 1865, Hamburg, Otto Meissner, p. 130, also quote the oath recitation without shmG. Executive Register of the United States: 1789-1902. Compiled by Robert Brent Mosher, Washington, DC. (Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press (The Friedenwald Company); 1903), page 176 quotes the oath recitation followed by the certification of "the oath of office above set forth. SALMON P. CHASE C. J. S. C. U. S."

The Herald and Torch Light, March 10, 1869 quotes the oath recitation without shmG as follows:

As soon as order could be restored and all things being in readiness, Chief Justice Chase administered the oath of office to Gen. Grant, as follows "I do solemnly swear 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." The new President then proceeded to deliver his Inaugural ....

The Titusville Morning Herald, March 10, 1873 depicts the swearing in without shmG as follows:

At half-past twelve o'clock the President arose to take the oath of office. Chief Justice Chase repeating the text of the oath prescribed in the Constitution presented the Bible, which he held in his hand, to the President, who raised it to his lips. Salutes of artillery then announced to the whole city that General Grant had been inaugurated President of the United States for a second term.

This March 5, 1877 diary entry by James Garfield says President Rutherford Hayes "spoke clearly and forcibly, the Chief Justice administered the oath opening a new bible which Hayes kissed somewhere in the first eleven verses of the 118th psalm. Drove back with the Presidential party to the White House where a lunch had been prepared by Mrs. Grant." Also, The life of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, by Charles Richard Williams and William Henry Smith, 1914, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin company, p. 5, says "When the address was concluded, the oath of office was administered to the new President by Chief Justice Waite. The President then reentered his carriage." No mention of shmG.

James Garfield kissed the bible after taking the oath says the New Hampshire Sentinel, March 10, 1881. From log-cabin to the White House: Life of James A. Garfield, by William Makepeace Thayer, 1881, Boston, James H. Earle, p. 387, says "As he concluded, Judge Waite of the Supreme Court presented the bible to him on which the presidents are sworn, and proceeded to administer the oath. At the conclusion, President Garfield reverently kissed the sacred volume, and returned it to the judge." The life and work of James A. Garfield, by John Clark Ridpath, 1881, Philadelphia, P.W. Ziegler, p. 496, says "At its close Garfield turned towards the Chief Justice who advanced and administered the oath of office, the Clerk of the Supreme Court holding a buautifully-bound Bible, upon which the oath was taken. The occurred as impressive an episode as was ever seen in public life. After the new President had been congratulated by the ex-President Hayes and Chief Justice Waite, who stood next to him, he turned around, took his aged mother by the hand and kissed her." A similar depiction of events is given in Our martyred President. The life and public services of Gen. James A. Garfield. by James Dabney McCabe, c1881, Philadelphia, Pa., Chicago, Ills., P.W. Ziegler, p. 530.

Chester Arthur would have appended shmG to his oath of office as Vice President as a result of the post-Civil War modification to the federal oath for executive office holders. A book that claims Chester Arthur appended shmG is Perley's reminiscences of sixty years in the national metropolis, by Benjamin Perley Poore, c1886, Philadelphia, Hubbard, pages 428-429. Many newspapers quote him appending shmG.

The La Porte City Review, March 26, 1885 quotes the constitutional oath without shmG for Grover Cleveland's inauguration. A March 7, 1885 newspaper clipping, source unknown, from Grover Cleveland's scrapbook reads "... Chief Justice Waite administered the oath of office. Cleveland said: "I swear," then paused and kissed the bible". A Baltimore Sun article from March 5, 1885 says "Mr. Cleveland and the Chief Justice each put his right hand on one-half the small Bible while the oath was being administered. As Mr. Cleveland bowed to kiss the book another prolonged shout went up." Perley's reminiscences of sixty years in the national metropolis by Benjamin Perley Poore, c1886, Philadelphia, Hubbard, page 487, quotes the oath recitation without shmG. So does The National Capital, Past and Present : ..., by Stilson Hutchins and Joseph West Moore, Washington D.C, Post Pub. Co., 1885, Chapter XXI, page 275. However, the Boston Investigator, March 25, 1885 (PDF) accuses President Cleveland of "violating the constitution" by adding the words "So help me God."

According to the Chicago Tribune, March 5, 1889, page 9 (PDF), Benjamin Harrison recited the oath and then bowed his head. According to the Wheeling Register, March 5, 1889 (PDF), Benjamin Harrison also quotes him reciting the oath without shmG and then bowing his head. Living leaders of the world: ..., Atlanta, Ga., H.C. Hudgins & Co. [c.1889], page 26 quotes the oath recitation without shmG. The Indiana Progress, March 13, 1889 details the oath recitation without shmG as follows:

Standing with uncovered heads, in the midst of a pelting rainstorm, the Chief Justice and the President-elect, surrounded by high officials of State and in the presence of an immense multitude of citizens, faced each other with bowed heads while the former read the oath of office in a low tone of voice. The oath exacted is in the following words: "I do solemnly swear that 1 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." At the conclusion of the reading of the oath the President with his right hand clasping the Bible bowed his head in assent. The cheering which followed this ceremony, having at length subsided somewhat in response to President Harrison's request, he drew from his pocket a roll of manuscript, and after adjusting his spectacles began reading his inaugural address.

Grover Cleveland again apparently omitted that phrase during his second inauguration four years later. The Washington Post, March 5, 1893 (PDF), the Brooklyn Eagle, March 5, 1893 (PDF), Grand Forks Herald, March 5, 1893 (PDF), and the Decatur Daily Republican, March 6, 1893 all quote Cleveland reciting the oath as written in the constitution (without shmG).

William McKinley did not append shmG as reported by The Washington Post, March 5, 1897 (PDF), the Lowville, N.Y. Journal and Republican , March 11, 1897 (PDF), nor is he quoted as using that phrase for his second inauguration [March 4, 1901].

A search for shmG phrase in the digitized NY Times from its first edition in 1851 through 1881 reveals no other use of that phrase during presidential inaugurations. See shmG in NY Times 1852-1861, shmG in NY Times 1861-1866, shmG in NY Times 1866-1881, shmG in NY Times 1881. Also, for comparison, here are shmG search results for shmG in NY Times 1950-1955, and shmG in NY Times 1955-1959. The NY Times presidential inauguration oath articles from 1853 to 1905 report only one shmG (Chester Arthur). Similarly, The Washington Post presidential inauguration oath articles from 1881 to 1905 report only one shmG (Chester Arthur).

It is possible that one or more of the aforementioned presidents appended shmG and it was not reported, but we must have contemporaneous reports to establish that the presidents and/or the oath administrators appended shmG. It is irresponsible to claim or imply that they did without such evidence, particularly given that a significant number of first hand newspaper accounts claim to quote the oath as recited and detail the president's actions immediately after the recitation with no mention of shmG as shown above. None of the many newspaper articles for each of the other 18th and 19th century inaugurations that were searched for this article indicated that any U.S. president other than Chester Arthur appended shmG to their Oath of Office (although two books claimed Abraham Lincoln once appended shmG).

New shmG "tradition" myth created in 20th century

The Boston Globe, March 5, 1901 quotes William McKinley reciting the constitutional oath and kissing the bible without appending shmG.

First hand accounts of Theodore Roosevelt appending the phrase "And thus do I swear" during his first inauguration [September 14, 1901] can be found in The Illustrated Buffalo Express - Sunday, September 15, 1901, The Washington Post, September 15, 1901 (PDF), The Pittsburgh Press, September 15, 1901, The Last Days of President McKinley, by Walter Wellman published in The American Monthly Review of Reviews, Volume XXIV, New York, Review of Reviews, 1901, page 414-426, and Theodore Roosevelt, patriot and statesman the true story of an ideal American, by Robert Cornelius V Meyers, Philadelphia, Pa. and Chicago, Ill., P. W. Ziegler & co. [c1902], page 388. Roosevelt also did not use a bible during his first inauguration. Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-six president of the United States. A typical American, by Charles Eugene Banks and Leroy Armstrong; c1901, page 377 quotes the oath recitation without shmG as does American Boy's Life of Theodore Roosevelt, by Edward Stratemeyer, 1904, Lee and Shepard, Boston, Chapter XXV. The Executive Register of the United States, 1789-1902: A List of the Presidents ..., by Robert Brent Mosher, 1903, Friedenwald, Baltimore, MD, page 284, shows the certificate signed by the president with the words of oath as recited without shmG. The Authentic Life of William McKinley, by Alexander K McClure, New York : W.E. Scul, 1901, page 494 quotes the oath recitation without shmG. Executive Register of the United States: 1789-1902. Compiled by Robert Brent Mosher, Washington, DC. (Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press (The Friedenwald Company); 1903), page 284 quotes the oath recitation as certified by "JOHN R. HAZEL, U. S. J."

According to "Hail to the Chief" by Glenn D. Kittler, 1965, during his second inauguration on March 4 1905 Theodore Roosevelt appended "I swear, so help me God." and he kissed a Bible. The Chicago Tribune, March 5, 1905, page 1 says "The president's address was heard by but few people, but they didn't care a snap for that. They saw him go through the motions of taking the oath, and some of them heard him say 'So help me God.'" The contradiction between few people heard and some people heard what they wanted/expected to hear anyway implies some skepticism is merited. The Lowville, N.Y. Journal and Republican, March 9, 1905 (PDF), the Indiana Evening Gazette, March 4, 1905 , the Newark Advocate. March 4, 1905, Weekly Kentucky New Era, March 3, 1905 (March 4 revision), and others quote the oath recitation and details Roosevelt's immediate before and after actions with no mention of shmG.

William Howard Taft, a Unitarian who would have appended shmG to his oath of office when he was appointed Solicitor General of the United States in 1890, the chairman of a commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines in 1900, and the Secretary of War in 1904, appended "so help me God" and kissed a bible as reported in The Washington Post, March 5, 1909 (PDF). However, The Pittsburgh Press, March 4, 1909 quotes him "slowly and distinctly" repeating only the words of constitution followed "a second later" by his kissing a bible.

The New York Times, March 5, 1913 (PDF) reported that Woodrow Wilson kissed the bible on the phrase "so shall I keep Thy Law" during his first inauguration. The Daily Northwestern, March 4, 1913 and the Oakland Tribune, March 4, 1913 quote the oath recitation without shmG.

The Washington Post, March 5, 1917 (PDF) quotes Woodrow Wilson saying just the constitutional oath (without shmG). The Washington Post, March 6, 1917 (PDF) says Woodrow Wilson repeated the same oath the next day. The Indiana Evening Gazette, March 5, 1917, the Mansfield News, March 5, 1917, and The Crawfordsville Review, Mar. 6, 1917 quote the oath recitation without shmG.

The New York Times, March 5, 1921 (PDF) reported that Warren Harding appended shmG. His inaugural ceremony was the first to use loudspeakers (Magnovox M-1). Most other newspaper that quote the oath recitation did not report he appended shmG, including The Day, Mar. 4, 1921, the Statesville Landmark, March 7, 1921, and the Stevens Point Gazette, March 9, 1921. However, From printer to president , by Sherman A Cuneo, 1922, Philadelphia, Dorrance, p. 18, says '... he uttered the concluding words of the oath, "So help me God" ...'. The phrase also appears as part of the oath in an article titled Exit Wilson: Enter Harding Staff Correspondance, by Elbert F. Baldwin, March 4, 1921 that was printed in The Outlook An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Current Life, Volume 127, by Francis Rufus Bellamy, The Outlook Company, March 16, 1921, pages 414-415. Another account with that phrase is found in an article titled President Harding's Inauguration published in Current History A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times, Volume XIV, New York Times Company, New York, 1921, pages 39-40.

Calvin Coolidge, who would have appended shmG to his oath of office when he became Vice President, appended shmG on August 3, 1923 according to Boston Post, August 3, 1923 by Roy Atkinson, the NY Times, August 4, 1923 (PDF), and the Statesville Landmark, March 6, 1923. A more detailed account can be found in CALVIN COOLIDGE The Man from Vermont, by Claude M. Fuess, LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY, Boston, 1939, 1940, page 310.

"The Day of Days", Time magazine, March 16, 1925 quotes Calvin Coolidge saying "I do" after Chief Justice Taft completes reciting the oath with shmG appended. However, The Times Daily, March 4, 1925 claimed he recited in a "slow and even drawl" the oath followed by the words "so help me God!".

Startingin 1929 the presidential inaugurations were filmed. Videos of the presidential swearing in ceremonies show conclusively that all presidents since Roosevelt have appended shmG.

According to the March 5, 1929 NY Times, Chief Justice Taft appended shmG during his recitation of the oath before Herbert Hoover responded "I do". However, articles from the The Pittsburgh Press, March 4, 1929, Iowa Recorder, March 6, 1929 , the Morning Call, March 9, 1929 and "The Chief" Time magazine, March 11, 1929 and, according to Craig Wright from the Hoover Presidential Library, a film clip from Paramount Sound News all demonstrate conclusively that Chief Justice Taft did not append shmG to the end of the oath as he had previously done with Coolidge. A youtube video, Herbert Hoover Takes the Oath of Office, shows no shmG. Hoover's inauguration is thus the last to follow the long tradition of not appending shmG that began with George Washington.

Starting with Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 it appears that all presidents appended shmG. Note how the Chief Justice is now adding the "so help me God" phrase to the oath. "We Must Act", Time magazine, March 13, 1933. "Swearing in the Rain", Time magazine, February 1, 1937. "Inaugural: Soaked Dignataries Watch the President 'Take it'", Newsweek magazine, January 30, 1937. Here is a sound recording of Roosevelt taking second oath of office [AVI format] taken from Sound Recording 201.488; F. D. Roosevelt Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1937; Sound Recordings from Bialek, Robert, 1922-2006, Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. . "Third Term Begins", Time magazine, January 27, 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt appended shmG again for the fourth and last time on January 20, 1945 and Harry Truman did the same on January 20, 1949. Eisenhower appended the shmG phrase during his first and second inaugurations in 1953 and 1957. This RealPlayer audio of President Lyndon Johnsons taking the oath ends with Johnson repeating District Judge Sarah Hughes saying shmG. Carter in 1977 and Reagan in 1981 and 1985 appended shmG. So appending shmG became more common at the start of the 20th century, and thus was a precursor to more formal subsequent moves by government to endorse monotheism via the new national motto, Pledge of Allegiance modification, printing of the new motto on currency, and National Day of Prayer.

The earliest assertion we have found that all presidents, not just George Washington, appended shmG to their oath of office is in Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, WI), January 21, 1957 which reads as follows:

.... The oath uttered by Mr. Eisenhower ran to 42 words and quoted by Mr. Nixon extended to 74 words. As historians have pointed out, the original Oath for the presidency, contained in the United Stales Constitution, did not include the four final words: "So help me God." This prayer to the Deity for guidance in a tremendous task was added by the first President of the nation. George Washington. And every President since then has followed that inspired appeal to the God of all of us. Now the words are a permanent part of the ritual and Oath, having been incorporated into the imperishable United States Constitution.

The claim that most presidents starting with George Washington appended that monotheistic phrase to their inaugural oath of office is false. Apparently it was appended once in 1881, again 28 years later in 1909 (Howard Taft), maybe again in 1921 (Warren Harding), again in 1923 (Calvin Coolidge) and maybe 1925 (Chief Justice Taft for Calvin Coolidge), and then was subsequently appended all of the time since 1933. The earliest association of the practice of appending shmg to official oaths with the myth that George Washington did the same that we have found is in a book The Soul of George Washington by Joseph Buffington, (1936) page 144 which says "When he took it in that form and he then bowed his head and kissed the Sacred Book and, with the deepest feeling, uttered the words "so help me God." These latter words, now accompanying the foregoing one in official oaths we owe to George Washington." The earliest document we have found that explicitly characterizes appending shmG to the presidential oath as an inaugural tradition is from an article in the Herald Press, January 20, 1953. followed a day later by an article in the New York Times, January 21, 1953 (PDF). Four years later we see the same in the "Official Program 43rd Inauguration, 1957" which quotes the Constitutional oath in full and below, in brackets, notes "Custom decrees adding "So help me God.""

More George Washington myths and non-sequiturs

George Washington rarely spoke in explicitly “Christian” language. Unitarian univeralist syncretism is a closer fit with his statements than either Trinitarian Christianity or classical Deism. Some historians prefer the description "theistic rationalist". Theist rationalism can be defined as a combination of theological unitarianism (denial of the Trinity), universalism (universal salvation, the bad punished temporarily, eventually redeemed), syncretism (most or all religions are valid ways to God), the notion that various holy books may be partially inspired (and are thus also at least partially errant) and that man’s reason can discern the parts of the holy books that probably are false. Theistic rationalism also allows for an active personal God and the efficacy of prayer. Theistic rationalists in 18th century North America were more likely to call themselves "Christians" than "Deists". This doesn't stop some religious Trinitarian Christians from claiming him as being one of them. One consequence is that there are other myths about George Washington like the so help me God myth. Here are some common myths and non-sequiturs about his religious practices or beliefs.

It is not true that his status as a vestryman is evidence that he was an orthodox Christian. The vestryman position was more political than religious. Thomas Jefferson and many other elite Virginians who didn’t believe in orthodox Christianity also served as vestrymen for the Anglican Church.

It is not true that George Washington wrote a personal prayerbook. This has been debunked as a fraud.

It is true that pious clergy sent Washington their sermons for him to read. However, it is not true that his stashing the sermons in his library next to the works of “infidels” like Thomas Paine and Joseph Priestly is evidence that he was an orthodox Christian.

While Washington, as a child, may have received a “Biblical education” and studied with his devout mother, there is no evidence showing that the adult Washington engaged in “Biblical studies” with his family.

He appointed Chaplains in the military much for the same reason why we have Chaplains today: To meet the needs of soldiers. Even Michael Newdow and Barry Lynn support military Chaplains for this reason.

Washington did command his soldiers to attend religious services, but again, this hardly shows Washington to be an orthodox Christian. He wanted his soldiers to be “religious” because he thought “religion” was necessary for morality and character. However, like Adams and the other key Founders, he likely thought all of the exotic world religions of which he was aware could serve this function.

The text called "Washington's Vision", appearing in the 24 June 1861 Philadelphia Inquirer by "Wesley Bradshaw", and re-published in various other newspapers over the years, describes an angelic figure coming to the general in his tent at Valley Forge and giving him a prophecy about the future of the U.S. of A. Wesley Bradshaw describes hearing of Washington's experience through a veteran of Valley Forge named Anthony Sherman on July 4, 1859. However, Anthony Sherman is not listed among Revolutionary veterans receiving a pension in 1840, meaning he had died by that year — well over a decade before he supposedly spoke to Wesley Bradshaw in Philadelphia.

Washington put his hand on a Freemasonic Bible when taking his oath. Freemasonry (George Washington was a Freemason) is not generally associated with orthodox Christianity.

In a speech to a Jewish congregation he used the biblical name 'Jehovah'. Likewise, when Washington addressed his fellow Freemasons, he referred to God as “The Great Architect of the Universe.” And when addressing the Cherokee Indians, Washington referred to God as “The Great Spirit” exactly as they did. The latter didn't reveal him to be an animist so by the same standard the former didn't reveal him to be an orthodox Christian either.

Washington’s membership on the Committee on Religion is not evidence that he was an orthodox Christian. The committee’s purpose was to deal with Church-State matters, not to advance Christianity and impede Deism in Virginia. “Infidels” Jefferson and Madison, when members of Virginia’s House of Delegates, were also on the Committee on Religion, and it was there that they initiated Jefferson’s revolutionary Virginia Bill for Religious Freedom which, when passed, separated Church and State in Virginia.

About half of his contemporaries believed Washington was a devout Christian and citing only them doesn't substantiate that he was. The other half believed he was either a Deist or not a “real Christian” in the orthodox Trinitarian sense. The half that didn’t believe Washington was an orthodox Christian included Jefferson, Madison, G. Morris, three of Washington’s own ministers, and some pious figures who knew Washington personally, like the Rev. Samuel Miller, who unlike Parson Weems didn’t see the "evidence" for Washington’s orthodoxy.

George Washington probably did not kneel in the bloodstained snow of Valley Forge and pray. This story is attributed to Isaac Potts in the 1816, 17th Edition of the "Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes" by the Rev. Mason L. Weems, formerly rector of Mount Vernon Parish who is the source of the George Washington cannot tell a lie about chopping down the cherry tree myth. This story has no foundation in the historical record and Washington, when he prayed, was not known to have kneeled.

Newt Gingrich said that Washington's personal journal provides more evidence of his deep faith as follows:

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being.