tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post1445577066453720300..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Spreading Skepticism about Presidential Oath Add-OnUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-28402951340738507652009-01-19T13:54:00.000-05:002009-01-19T13:54:00.000-05:00Oral tradition can be very useful, especially in f...Oral tradition can be very useful, especially in filling out individual and private experiences. But it’s far weaker than contemporaneous written accounts, which we have in this case. <BR/><BR/>The first presidential inauguration was a public event observed by many people. As Prof. Henriques notes, the form of the U.S. of A.’s official oaths was a hot issue. Witnesses noted that Washington swore on a Bible and kissed it afterwards, yet no one quoted him as saying, “so help me God.” <BR/><BR/>Furthermore, the strongest oral traditions are those which can be traced. In this case, the “so help me God” appears in print for the first time in the 1850s with no hint of how Washington Irving or his colleagues came by that information. They didn’t even claim it was an oral tradition. That should be no more convincing than me describing Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1952 with a detail no one reported at the time and offering no evidence for my statement. <BR/><BR/>As for George Washington’s own values, I think it’s deeply in character for him to recite the oath exactly as written in the U.S. Constitution. He presided over the convention that wrote that document. He was always concerned about his duty to society and the republic. Again, the record from 1789 shows that he expressed religious reverence in the ceremony. That same record didn’t mention “so help me God.”<BR/><BR/>This is not a “some primary sources say this, some say that” question. <I>No one</I> in 1789 described the oath ending with “so help me God.” Given that evidence, the burden of proof falls on those people who want to believe in Washington saying, “so help me God.” They have to come up with actual evidence and a stronger argument than, “Well, he could have.” <BR/><BR/>If Irving and his circle had written evidence, or even an oral tradition, they should have made that known. Obviously, there were different standards in historical writing at the time. But the fact that those 1850s authors described Washington as saying something doesn’t mean that today we’re excused from looking at the evidence to decide if he did.<BR/><BR/>“Accepted historical tradition” simply means what people in the past chose to believe, and perhaps what some people still choose to believe. It’s not a substitute for evidence, especially when the evidence points another way.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-22350350452383754742009-01-19T13:03:00.000-05:002009-01-19T13:03:00.000-05:00First of all, I like this blog a lot. I want to ma...First of all, I like this blog a lot. I want to make that clear.<BR/><BR/>Having said that... :-)<BR/><BR/>I disagree with how so many people are quick to dismiss the "so help me God" tradition. To paraphrase Patrick Henry (who spoke in a different context) -- "I smell a rat." Not that anyone here is a "rat." :-) But there's something else going on in the debate surrounding this oath, and it's more than just wanting to set the record straight. <BR/><BR/>For one thing....we've become much too cynical about oral tradition. Take that to an extreme, and we lose much of history.<BR/><BR/>For another...this business about it being "out of character" for GW to add "so help me God" to the oath is, frankly, preposterous. Washington was a man of deep faith. I'm not saying it was a strict, Trinitarian, born-again Christian. THAT is for another discussion. I'm saying he was a man of faith, and THAT is beyond legitimate dispute. <BR/><BR/>Forgive the shameless plug, but I wrote an article on this over at my blog. You can find it at...<BR/><BR/>http://americanfounding.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-what-if-gw-didnt-say-so-help-me-god.html<BR/><BR/>Anyway...I enjoy this blog and all the participants and discussions. I don't mean to offend or upset anyone, but I think we need to put this whole thing in perspective. And not be so quick to overturn what has been accepted historical tradition.<BR/><BR/>-Brian Tubbs<BR/>http://americanfounding.blogspot.com/Brian Tubbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15412421076480479001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-70883152678244391732009-01-14T15:28:00.000-05:002009-01-14T15:28:00.000-05:00Thanks. In that radio story, the reporter asked a ...Thanks. In <A HREF="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9932" REL="nofollow">that radio story</A>, the reporter asked a gentleman at the National Archives about whether Washington added “So help me God.“ <BR/><BR/>His answer was something like: “Some people say he did, and some say he didn’t.” Which is true, except that the people who say he didn’t (or, to be absolutely precise, didn’t say he did) include men who were actually there.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-5100375667323162332009-01-14T09:50:00.000-05:002009-01-14T09:50:00.000-05:00There was a story about this on NPR's morning edit...There was a story about this on NPR's morning edition today.<BR/>See:<BR/>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99323353Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03094534688037491678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-85325066566942236332009-01-13T13:55:00.000-05:002009-01-13T13:55:00.000-05:00And I believe Irving also had a hand in shaping pe...And I believe Irving also had a hand in shaping perhaps the most powerful American legend of all: Santa Claus.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-13215218562472221712009-01-13T09:06:00.000-05:002009-01-13T09:06:00.000-05:00I tend to agree that "So help me God" would be a w...I tend to agree that "So help me God" would be a welcome addition to the oath if offered by the person taking the oath, rather than provoke by the one administering it.<BR/><BR/>Isn't it fascinating, however, to see the enduring legacy of Washington Irving - the same man who made the world believe Columbus set out to prove the Earth was round? I think it also shows that the generation following the founding fathers so revered them that they were already creating myths about them.Rob Velellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14284492589098267999noreply@blogger.com