The Weekly Standard looks forward to the 58th swearing-in of a president of the United States on January 20, 2017. The oath-taking is the heart of the occasion. It’s what makes the winner of the presidential election legally and constitutionally able to execute the office of the president. All the rest is ceremony. That’s why Abraham Lincoln, for example, who thought deeply about these things, begins his second Inaugural Address with these words: “At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office .  .  . ”

And where does that oath come from? The Constitution. The president is the only officer of the United States whose oath is specified in the Constitution. To wit: “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.”