President Obama officially began his second term Sunday with a brief swearing-in ceremony in the Blue Room of the White House just before noon. The Constitution requires that the president be sworn in on Jan. 20. The public ceremony will be held Monday, as is the custom when Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday.
Obama stood beside First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia. The oath of office was administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
The bible used in the swearing in came from first lady’s family. Michelle Obama held the bible, which was a gift from the first lady’s father, Fraser Robinson III, to his mother, LaVaughn Delores Robinson, on Mother’s Day in 1958, according to White House pool report. “Mrs. Robinson was the first African American woman manager of a Moody Bible Institute’s bookstore; this was the only Bible she ever used,” the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s media guide reads.
“Thank you Mr. Chief Justice, thank you so much,” Obama said after taking the oath of office.
The oath went smoother than four years ago, when the president and the chief justice failed to exactly recite the 35-word oath as specified in the Constitution during the Inaugural ceremony on the steps of the capitol and had to re-do the oath a second time at the White House the next day.
After taking the oath, Obama hugged the first lady and his daughters. “Good job, daddy,” Sasha said. “I did it,” Obama replied. “You didn’t mess up,” Sasha said.
Pema Levy
Pema Levy is a News Writer at TPM covering the 2012 election. Before coming to TPM, Pema was an assistant editor at The American Prospect where she wrote about politics and the economy.
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