|
|
Article: So help me God: religion and presidential oath-taking.(The Sound of Legal Thunder: The Chaotic Consequences of Crushing Constitutional Butterflies)
- Article from:
- Constitutional Commentary
- Article date:
- December 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Constitutional Commentary, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
President Bill Clinton underwent impeachment and courted conviction and removal from office for having violated, in the words of his accusers, the religious sanctity of the oath. Representative Henry Hyde (R., Illinois) was especially unwilling to forgive Clinton's oath-breaking. In preaching the importance of the oath as a bulwark of the rule of law, Representative Hyde emphasized the religious features of the oath. Hyde argued that Clinton's promise to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, So Help Me God," went to the very heart of his obligations as the nation's chief executive.
Although the Senate and the people ultimately disagreed on ...