The presidential oath, despite modern trends, does not actually mention god or include a request for a god’s help. The words “so help me God” never appear and were not first used to alter the words of the constitutional oath by a president until nearly 100 years later. The first law that Congress ever passed prescribed congressional oaths for office, and all gods were deliberately edited out of it.86 The presidential oath remains godless, though modern political piety and a disrespect for the Constitution has marred it.
