Monday, August 3, 2009

Coolidge's Two Oaths of Office

Calvin Coolidge taking the Oath of Office in Plymouth Notch, VT on August 3, 1923. This painting, on loan from Amherst College, is on display in the Coolidge Museum.


Did you know Coolidge took the Oath of Office twice in 1923?

August 2, 1923 at 7:30 PM PST, President Warren Harding died in San Francisco, CA while Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was vacationing at his father's home in Plymouth Notch, VT. At 2:47 AM EST on August 3, 1923, Coolidge took the Presidential Oath of Office administered by his father, a notary. It was later determined by U.S. Solicitor General James Beck that a state official could not swear in a federal official. Therefore, Coolidge took a second Presidential Oath of Office at the New Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. administered by Chief Justice A.A. Hoehling.














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