Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft administered the presidential oath of office to Hoover.

[1] The Constitution of the United States gives the president the option either to swear or to affirm the oath.

Hoover is often listed as having said "affirm" due to being a Quaker, but the newsreel taken of the ceremony indicates that he said "solemnly swear.

"[2] Franklin Pierce was the only president known to say "affirm" rather than "swear" when taking the oath of office.

Helen Terwilliger, a 13-year-old eighth-grade student in Walden, New York, caught the error and wrote to the Chief Justice to tell him.