Alva Review-Courier -

As we saw last week, typically presidents of the United States are sworn in by chief justices of the United States Supreme Court. This is not, however, required by the U.S. Constitution.

When George Washington became the first president in 1789, the Supreme Court had no justices because they must be appointed by the president!

So, Washington took the oath of office from the highest-ranking judge in New York State. When Washington’s second term began in 1793, the Supreme Court had a chief justice but Washington chose to have the oath administered by one of the court’s associate justices.

The on...