as noon had passed in the East, Barack Obama was now the President (which given that he hadn't taken the Oath of Office yet seemed a bit strange to me).
That's one of those weird little tidbits of government--the Constitution states that at noon on the 20th, the new president and VP officially assume power, so even if the oath hasn't been administered, the transfer is complete. That's why the oath of office is always given around noon, to line up with that.
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Date: 2009-01-20 06:47 pm (UTC)That's one of those weird little tidbits of government--the Constitution states that at noon on the 20th, the new president and VP officially assume power, so even if the oath hasn't been administered, the transfer is complete. That's why the oath of office is always given around noon, to line up with that.