Obama retakes oath in an abundance of caution

BARACK Obama has retaken the oath of office after fumbling its words at his inauguration.

Chief Justice John Roberts re-administered the oath during a 25-second private ceremony in the White House map room last night. The unusual step came after Mr Roberts spoke one word out of order, and Mr Obama repeated the mistake. For his second attempt, America's 44th president - and Mr Roberts - were word perfect.

White House counsel Greg Craig said that Mr Obama took the oath out of an "abundance of caution", adding: "We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday.

"But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time." Mr Obama joked to four reporters who witnessed the ceremony: "We decided it was so much fun."

At the inauguration, watched by two million people in Washington, Mr Roberts had misplaced the word "faithfully" in the 35-word oath. Mr Obama paused at the mistake, which Mr Roberts then corrected, but he then repeated the words as said first.

The newly elected President, who once taught constitutional law, said later that there was "a lot going on" at the historic moment.

The oath is explicitly prescribed in the US Constitution and must be taken as written before a president can execute his or her duties. Two previous presidents, Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, retook their oaths under similar circumstances.

White House aides said that despite the error Mr Obama was still President - just as well considering the whirlwind start to his first full day in office.In a flurry of activity, he summoned advisers to deal with the economy and the war in Iraq as well as issuing orders to set up new rules for lobbying.

He also froze salaries for top White House staff, and had aides circulate a draft executive order that will shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre within a year - having already suspended the war crimes trials being held there, including that of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The President received a welcome boost at the end of the day when his appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State was approved. The former New York senator was sworn in at a brief ceremony last night attended by her staff and husband Bill Clinton.

Today Mr Obama was signing two other executive orders establishing rules and guidelines on interrogation methods and the treatment of detainees. What happens to the 245 prisoners being held at Guantanamo has yet to be decided, but the majority will probably be held at federal jails, or released.

The pay freeze for staff earning more than £75,000 will affect many of Mr Obama's key appointments, including Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. It was ordered to show that while many Americans are losing their jobs in the economic crisis, his administration was in tune with what is happening. "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," he said.

The President also placed new limits on lobbyists that will ban aides from trying to influence the administration on leaving his staff. Lobbyists will no longer be able to give gifts of any size to administration members.

He said that the rules were needed "to help restore faith in government, without which we cannot deliver the changes that we were sent here to make".

In an attempt to deliver on pledges of a transparent government, the President said that he would change the way the government interprets the Freedom of Information Act to encourage disclosure, adding: "For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city." He said that his moves "marked the beginning of a new era of openness in our country".

President Obama also told economic advisers and military officials that he wants to press ahead with a pre-election plan to achieve the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq in 16 months.