At
Monster Middle School, a new School President has been elected. Some students
wonder, how does the school know when the President starts the job?
One
student, a dragon in the eighth grade, says that the President begins being
President right after all the votes are taken.
Another
student, a ninth grade ghost, says, "What if the votes are counted after school
and the final vote happened 6:43 PM? By then all the candidates are at home
eating supper, including the person who won the most votes."
Some
students want the President to begin the new job the next morning, after the
vote. Other students want the President to begin the job on the first day of
the next school year.
If you
attended Monster Middle School, which side would you be on? How would you
explain your opinions to convince others?
When the
United States' constitution (which is our rules of government) was being written
in 1787, this was an important question. When will the new President start
doing the job? They agreed that the new President,
elected every four years, would start the job right after taking the oath of
office.
[Some
seventh graders at MMS want to know what an oath is. The librarian of MMS helps
them look up the word in the Random House
Dictionary of the English Language. Oath:
a statement of a promise. The librarian explains to the 7th
graders that the School President could make a public promise, an oath, to do a
good job for everyone.]
The
people who were making our constitution, like everything else they talked
about, changed the "oath of office" for the President several times.
The
first oath was the most simple, and was accepted on July 23, 1787. "I
(name of new President) solemnly swear, -- or affirm, -- that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States of America."
A month
later, on August 27, more words were added to the oath: " … and will to
the best of my judgement and power preserve, protect and defend the Constitution
of the United States."
Later,
in September, the words 'judgement and power' were replaced with the word
'ability'. Also, the word 'America' was removed.
Why did
it take months to decide this one simple oath? Because the people at the
convention were forming a strong government over the 13 nation-states and they
kept arguing about whether to even have a President!
At MMS,
the student council, which has a person from each classroom, decides that the newly
elected School President will begin the job with a public promise. The promise
will be made one week after the election, at 9:00 AM in the morning, at an
assembly of the entire school.
In the
United States, a newly elected President begins the job at noon, on January 20,
after the election in November (this date and time were set by an amendment, or
change, to the constitution.) Our constitution says: "Before he enter on
the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:
-- 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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'."
If you
are privileged to see the inauguration of a new U. S; President, pay attention to
the oath. That's the promise he or she makes to all of us to protect our government
and follow our rules.
Everything
else about a Presidential inauguration is fun, but doesn't matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment