“Congratulations, again.”

Those were the words uttered by Chief Justice John Roberts after giving Barack Obama the Presidential oath for the second time.

Was it necessary to do it again? No serious legal scholar questioned that Barack Obama was not President but most agreed it was better to have a take two.

Even though the original Constitution quite clearly lays forth the 35 words to recite to become President, two recent amendments may have made its recital moot.

When John Tyler ascended to the Presidency in 1841 after the death of William Henry Harrison, some thought he was only the acting President. As the first Vice-President to assume the Presidency, Tyler made it clear he was the President by reciting the oath.

At the time, that reaffirmed the oath as essential to becoming President.

Two other Vice-Presidents who assumed the Presidency also repeated their oaths. Although neither was involved in a flub like Obama, both Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge felt it necessary to repeat it.

Arthur took the oath in private after James Garfield’s death, but upon arriving in Washington, D.C., had a formal ceremony.

Coolidge was originally sworn in by his father, a notary. However, no one was sure if it was legal for a notary to do the deed, so Coolidge had the Chief Justice do it when he came back to Washington.

Fifteen different men have given the oaths to the 42 men who have become President. Obama’s is not the first swearing in to have gone badly. It now may be the most notable, but Hoover’s 1928 swearing in probably should have been redone as well.

The Chief Justice at that time was former President William Howard Taft. One would think he would know the words. However, Taft became lost while reciting the oath and made up his own. Instead of instructing Hoover to “preserve, protect, and defend,” Taft said, “preserve, maintain and defend.” Hoover did not redo the oath.

Hoover was also the last President not to say, “So help me God.” It is also believed that he may have been only the second President to affirm, not swear, the oath. Franklin Pierce was the other.

What makes the oath less important today are the Twentieth and Twenty-fifth Amendments. The Twentieth Amendment ends the outgoing President’s term at noon on January 20. The Twenty-fifth Amendment clarifies that the Presidency is never vacant. Some may argue that Vice-President Joe Biden would become the President in that case. However, the counting and validating of the Electoral College by Congress “qualifies” the President-elect. Many Constitutional scholars now assume that is enough for the ascension to the Presidency.

Still, the oath is a nice formality and indisputably states at what time a new President assumes office — as long as it goes smoothly.