| Tango01 | 24 Jan 2017 3:56 p.m. PST |
"At noon on January 20, Donald J. Trump will take the oath of office as President of the United States: "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." And then he will add the phrase "so help me God." Those four little words are not in the Constitution, but for most Americans, they might as well be. "So help me God" has been as much a part of the oath as the other 35 words, ever since George Washington first said them 228 years ago. But did Washington really say "so help me God"? Actually, there is no evidence that he did. That story did not exist until 1854, sixty-five years after Washington's inauguration. If it were not for Rufus Griswold, we would not have that story at all. Rufus Wilmot Griswold was a mid-nineteenth-century literary critic and editor. In 1854, he published The Republican Court: or, American Society in the Days of Washington. The book contained this account of the first president's inauguration: "A gesture of the Chancellor [Robert Livingston, New York's highest judicial officer] arrested the attention of the immense assembly, and he pronounced slowly and distinctly the words of the oath. The Bible was raised, and as the President bowed to kiss its sacred pages, he said audibly, ‘I swear,' and added, with fervor, his eyes closed, that his whole soul might be absorbed in the supplication, ‘So help me God!'"…"
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Armand |
| Hafen von Schlockenberg | 24 Jan 2017 6:00 p.m. PST |
Well,after all,he had to do something to make up for chopping down that cherry tree! |
| Dale Hurtt | 24 Jan 2017 6:54 p.m. PST |
If you want the Adams mini-series, most people could not hear a damn thing Washington said at the inauguration, including those near him.  |
| Silent Pool | 24 Jan 2017 8:04 p.m. PST |
"Independence is very overrated" |
| Brian Smaller | 25 Jan 2017 12:41 a.m. PST |
I thought those four words were "God Save the King" |
| Winston Smith | 25 Jan 2017 2:40 a.m. PST |
This is why revisionist historians are such a pain. |
| 42flanker | 25 Jan 2017 3:11 a.m. PST |
You mean the ones that examine the evidence? |
| Garde de Paris | 25 Jan 2017 5:13 a.m. PST |
Can anyone present evidence that he did NOT say "so help me God?" GdeP |
| Florida Tory | 25 Jan 2017 5:46 a.m. PST |
Maxwell Scott covered this fairly well, when Sen. Stoddard asked him why he wasn't going to print the revisionist version. |
| 15th Hussar | 25 Jan 2017 6:14 a.m. PST |
This is why revisionist historians are such a pain. I KNOW, they Suck to High Heaven don't they! Whooda thunk that MG George H. Thomas would now be considered the 2nd Best Union General of the ACW if it wasn't for revisionist historians! I think Auchinleck, Marshal St. Cyr, Dorman-Smith, Sir John Moore and others have also benefitted from second and even third looks. Damn Historians… |
| GurKhan | 25 Jan 2017 6:31 a.m. PST |
This is why revisionist historians are such a pain. Which revisionist – Griswold or Parker? |
| HANS GRUBER | 25 Jan 2017 6:41 a.m. PST |
The question seems purely political, and doesn't appear to have much to do with wargaming or miniatures. |
| nazrat | 25 Jan 2017 8:02 a.m. PST |
I certainly don't wish he said those words. I'd prefer no president said them. |
| Zargon | 25 Jan 2017 8:30 a.m. PST |
I'll have the Cheeseburger!
Making it real and wargaming related. |
| Tango01 | 25 Jan 2017 11:05 a.m. PST |
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| foxweasel | 25 Jan 2017 12:49 p.m. PST |
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| Piquet Rules | 25 Jan 2017 8:45 p.m. PST |
"Who called this meeting?" "I hate beef stew" "My wooden teeth hurt" "Father of my country?" "Cubs win! Cubs win!" |
| Hafen von Schlockenberg | 26 Jan 2017 1:06 p.m. PST |
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| Tango01 | 26 Jan 2017 10:04 p.m. PST |
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| 11th ACR | 26 Jan 2017 11:52 p.m. PST |
"GOD SHAVE THE KING" or "GOD SHAVE THE QUEEN" Your choice? |
