The misconception has even snared experts like editors for the US Senate Historical Office. One editor mistakenly claimed that presidents dating back to Washington’s inauguration had said “so help me God.”7 Now she agrees that Chester A. Arthur was first to alter the oath: “When I made the video, it was common wisdom that [Washington] said it and I did not check it. After investigating this, I would say there is no eyewitness documentation that he did—or did not—say this.”
