Letter from Chief Justice William Howard Taft to President Herbert Hoover Regarding the Oath of Office,

On March 1, 1929, three days before the inauguration, Chief Justice of the United States William Howard Taft wrote to President Herbert Hoover detailing how he would administer the oath of office, “I thought it would be wise to put in written form the details . . . of taking the oath.” Ironically, it was Taft who erred in the oath and said “to preserve, maintain, and defend” rather than “preserve, protect, and defend” as the oath prescribed.