Obamateurism of the Day

I didn’t get started with the OotD feature until a little over a week ago, but had I been thinking about it from the beginning of the Barack Obama presidency, this would have started us off. It comes literally from Obama’s first moments in office, when he displayed a lack of historical knowledge about the office he now holds:

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

Well, Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States, but only 42 Presidents preceded him. Grover Cleveland is both the 22nd and the 24th President, the only man to serve two non-concurrent terms in the White House. In fact, he only lost the intervening election through voter fraud. Like Al Gore 108 years later, won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College.

But Cleveland, while counting as two presidencies, only counts as one person. Only 43 people have taken the Oath of Office, but Obama may have made up for it by taking it twice. (hat tip: HA reader Mark)

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!