What Four Words Added To Presidential Oath Still Cause Controversy?

When President Obama rests his hand on two historic Bibles to take his second-term oath of office Monday (Jan. 21), he’ll add a phrase not mentioned in the Constitution: “So help me God.”

But the Almighty’s role on the Capitol steps is a controversial one.

First, there was a myth that the tradition of adding God to the oath began with George Washington. It didn’t, say experts at the Library of Congress, the U.S. Senate Historical Office and the first president’s home, Mount Vernon.

Although the phrase was used in federal courtrooms since 1789, the first proof it was used in a presidential oath of office came with Chester Arthur’s inauguration in September 1881.

Every president since, including Obama, has followed suit.

California atheist activist Michael Newdow has battled unsuccessfully in federal court to ban the phrase. Obama notified Chief Justice John Roberts, who administers the oath, that he wanted this phrase included. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Newdow’s last appeal.

Four years later, “so help me God” is unchallenged. Obama will once more use the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used in 1861. This term, he’ll add a second Good Book, the Bible that Martin Luther King Jr. carried with him in all his travels.