Jul
15
WHAT CONSTITUTION DID GEORGE WASHINGTON SWEAR TO “PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND”?
Filed Under Article II Section 1 Clause 8, CONSTITUTION, Oath of Office, PRESIDENTS
On April 30, 1789 George Washington recited the Article II Section 1 Clause 8 oath “I, George Washington, do solemnly swear 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.” “So help me God.” This oral oath reportedly taken by George Washington on April 30, 1789 was only one he ever took. There is no written record of any President’s oath of office.
The Organic Laws were all written in the eighteenth century, which was known as the Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, so it would be very unlikely that the learned men of the Constitutional Convention would refer to the same written document as both “this Constitution” and the Constitution of the United States. The document, which referred to itself as, “this Constitution,” eleven times is without doubt the written Constitution dated September 17, 1787. It is extremely unlikely that the Framers of the Constitution of September 17, 1787 would ignore the requirements of the Statute of Frauds of 1677, that written instruments be signed by the party to be charged. Washington on April 30, 1789 was agreeing to employment whereby he would “preserve, protect and defend” the territory owned by or subject to the exclusive legislative power of the United States of America.
The written Constitution of September 17, 1787 was established “between the States so ratifying the Same” on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth State ratify “this Constitution.” Before all the thirteen States ratified “this Constitution” on May 29, 1790, George Washington took the oral oath of the office of President of the United States on April 30, 1789, before any claim could be made that the Constitution of the United States had replaced the Articles of Confederation of November 15, 1777.
The Constitution of the United States the first President of the United States, George Washington, swears at noon on April 30, 1789, to “preserve, protect and defend” is not a written constitution, however, the Constitution of September 17, 1787 which binds the ratifying States, provides all the legislative power needed to incorporate by reference critical parts of the Constitution of September 17, 1787 into a legislatively constructed Constitution of the United States.
That legislatively reconstructed Constitution of the United States has its debut on June 1, 1789 when a new oath in the style of Article VI of the Constitution of September 17, 1787 is presented as Statute I, Chapter I.
In summary, at noon on April 30, 1789, George Washington was verbally promising to “preserve, protect and defend” the territory owned by or subject to the exclusive legislative power of the United States of America, but intending to extend, by force if necessary, that quasi-governmental power all over America. That inauguration promise was not contained in any constitution or other document it resulted from combining the office of head of state with the office of head of the government.
Dr. Eduardo M. Rivera
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