White House releases details on private swearing-in ceremony

President Obama will be officially sworn in for his second term at a private ceremony officiated by Chief Justice John Roberts Sunday at the White House, press secretary Jay Carney announced Tuesday.

Because Jan. 20 — the constitutionally mandated swearing-in day — falls on a Sunday, the president will take the oath of office privately ahead of his public inaugural ceremony the following day. Obama is not the first president to do so; James Monroe set the tradition in 1821, and modern presidents, including Ronald Reagan in 1985, have followed suit.

The ceremony will be held in the Blue Room of the White House, a salon on the first floor of the main residence. The room was the site of Grover Cleveland's wedding to Frances Folsom in 1886.

According to Carney, the event is "not likely to take very long." The press secretary told reporters "not to expect a pre-inaugural speech."

This will be the second consecutive inauguration in which Obama holds two swearings-in; in 2009, he and Roberts botched the oath of office during the public inauguration ceremony, leading to a do-over later at the White House.

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