The Wardman Wire

A slightly geeky point on Obama’s speech yesterday…

The new President said in his inauguration speech:

“Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.”

But actually he was incorrect. Even though Barack Obama is the 44th President, there have actually only been 43 different men who have been President. So why is he called the 44th President, you ask?

If a President serves one or two terms back to back he is counted as President no. x. So George Bush snr. was the 41st President, serving one term. Next came Clinton who served for two terms and was the 42nd President. George W Bush then served as number 43.

However, if a President serves two terms that are not back to back they then get counted twice.

This happened in the case of Grover Cleveland. He was elected as the 22nd President in 1885. He was then replaced by Benjamin Harrison in 1889 who served as the 23rd President of the United States. But Grover Cleveland was then re-elected President in 1893, making him both the 22nd and 24th Presidents – and also meaning only 43 Americans have taken the Presidential Oath.