There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President shall take the oath of office in the presence of the People but there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public induction to office of the chief executive officer of the nation that from the beginning of the Government the people to whose service the official oath consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the solemn ceremonial

Inaugural Speeches from the Presidents of the United States - Complete Edition (ed. e-artnow sro, 2017) - ISBN: 9788026872993