OATHS YOUR Government have to take. United States Further information: Oath of office of the President of the United States History of the Oath While the oath-taking dates back to the First Congress in 1789, the current oath is a product of the 1860s, drafted by Civil War-era members of Congress intent on ensnaring traitors. In 1789, the 1st United States Congress created an oath to fulfill the requirement of Article VI of the United States Constitution: I, A. B. do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.[61] It also passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established an additional oath taken by federal judges: I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me, according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the Constitution, and laws of the United States. [So help me God.] The outbreak of the Civil War quickly transformed the routine act of oath-taking into one of enormous significance. In April 1861, a time of uncertain and shifting loyalties, President Abraham Lincoln ordered all federal civilian employees within the executive branch to take an expanded oath. When Congress convened for a brief emergency session in July, members echoed the presidents action by enacting legislation requiring employees to take the expanded oath in support of the Union. This oath is the earliest direct predecessor of the modern version of the oath. When Congress returned for its regular session in December 1861, members who believed that the Union had as much to fear from northern traitors as southern soldiers again revised the oath, adding a new first section known as the Ironclad Test Oath. The war-inspired Test Oath, signed into law on July 2, 1862, required every person elected or appointed to any office ... under the Government of the United States ... excepting the President of the United States to swear or affirm that they had never previously engaged in criminal or disloyal conduct.[62] Those government employees who failed to take the 1862 Test Oath would not receive a salary; those who swore falsely would be prosecuted for perjury and forever denied federal employment. The 1862 oaths second section incorporated a different rendering of the hastily drafted 1861 oath. Although Congress did not extend coverage of the Ironclad Test Oath to its own members, many took it voluntarily. Angered by those who refused this symbolic act during a wartime crisis, and determined to prevent the eventual return of prewar southern leaders to positions of power in the national government, congressional hard-liners eventually succeeded by 1864 in making the Test Oath mandatory for all members. The Senate then revised its rules to require that members not only take the Test Oath orally, but also that they subscribe to it by signing a printed copy. This condition reflected a wartime practice in which military and civilian authorities required anyone wishing to do business with the federal government to sign a copy of the Test Oath. The current practice of newly sworn senators signing individual pages in an oath book dates from this period. As tensions cooled during the decade following the Civil War, Congress enacted private legislation permitting particular former Confederates to take only the second section of the 1862 oath. An 1868 public law prescribed this alternative oath for any person who has participated in the late rebellion, and from whom all legal disabilities arising therefrom have been removed by act of Congress.[63] Northerners immediately pointed to the new laws unfair double standard that required loyal Unionists to take the Test Oaths harsh first section while permitting ex-Confederates to ignore it. In 1884, a new generation of lawmakers quietly repealed the first section of the Test Oath, leaving intact the current affirmation of constitutional allegiance. Federal Executive and Legislative Branch Oaths In the United States, the oath of office for the President is specified in the Constitution (Article II, Section 1): I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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.[64] The oath may be sworn or affirmed (in which case it is called an affirmation instead of oath). Although not present in the text of the Constitution, it is customary for modern presidents to say So help me God after the end of the oath. For officers other than the President, the expression So help me God is explicitly prescribed, but the Judiciary Act of 1789 also explains when it can be omitted (specifically for oaths taken by court clerks): Which words, so help me God, shall be omitted in all cases where an affirmation is admitted instead of an oath.[65] The Constitution (Article VI, clause 3) also specifies: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. At the start of each new U.S. Congress, in January of every odd-numbered year, newly elected or re-elected Members of Congress – the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate – must recite an oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.][66] This oath is also taken by the Vice President, members of the Cabinet, federal judges and all other civil and military officers and federal employees other than the President. Federal Judiciary Oaths In the United States, federal judges are required to take two oaths. The first oath is this: I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as (office) under the Constitution and laws of the United States. [So help me God.][67] The second is the same oath that members of Congress take: I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.][66] Federal statute specifically says that the latter oath does not affect other oaths required by law.[68] Military Oaths - Federal and State See United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office. State and Local Oaths The oaths of state and local officials are largely patterned on the federal oath of constitutional allegiance. Typical would be the oath taken by all New York government officials: I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York, (and the Charter of the City of New York, e.g.), and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of (mayor of the City of New York, e.g.) to the best of my ability.[69] (So help me God is traditionally added.) Tennessee (county offices) All elected county officials and the appointed officers such as clerk and master, and deputies to these officers, are required to take an oath of office which actually consists of two oaths: the constitutional oath, and an oath for the particular office or fidelity oath (Tenn. Const. Art. X,Sec. 1). The following is combination fidelity and constitutional oath: I do solemnly swear that I will perform with fidelity the duties of the office to which I have been elected, and which I am about to assume. I do solemnly swear to support the constitutions of Tennessee and the United States and to faithfully perform the duties of the office of ____________ for ____________ County , Tennessee.[70] The simple constitutional oath and fidelity oath are taken by persons who do not have a more specific oath prescribed by law (T.C.A. § 8-18-111). This basic oath is used upon entering the following offices: County Executive/Mayor County Clerk (or deputy county clerk by substituting the word “appointed” for “elected”) County Register (or deputy register by substituting the word “appointed” for “elected”) Chief administrative officer of the county highway department County commissioners may the use the same basic oath as noted above, but phrased as follows: I do solemnly swear that I will perform with fidelity the duties of the office to which I have been elected, and which I am about to assume. I do solemnly swear to support the constitutions of Tennessee and the United States and to faithfully perform the duties of the office of county commissioner representing the ____________ district of ____________ County , Tennessee.[70] Clerks of court, deputy clerks of court, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, assessors of property and deputy assessors, constables without law enforcement powers, constables without law enforcement powers, general sessions court judges, and school board members in Tennessee all have specific variations of their oaths of office.[70]
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 16:38:10 +0000
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