Bush Inaugural Malapropism

[Fred Shapiro]

Has there ever be any discussion in the media or elsewhere of whether
George W. Bush misspoke the oath of office when he became president in
2001?  The transcripts by CNN, FDCH Political Transcripts, and the Fort
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel all have him saying "safely execute the office"
rather than "faithfully execute the office."  CNN and FDCH also have a
more trivial error, his inserting the word "the" before "president."  I
have not attempted to study audio of the oath to verify the truth of the
wording, but am curious about whether this alleged discrepancy has been
noticed before.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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