WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert will administer the oath of office to Vice President Dick Cheney, it was announced Wednesday.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., announced Hastert's role in the Jan. 20 ceremoney while releasing the details of the upcoming festivities.
Hastert will not be the first House speaker to participate in a presidential inauguration. In 1961, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson received his oath of office from House Speaker Sam Rayburn, a longtime political ally and former Johnson patron.
In 1965, House Speaker John McCormack, D-Mass., administered the oath to Vice President Hubert Humphrey while Massachusetts' Tip O'Neill had the honor in 1977 of administering the oath to Walter F. Mondale.
Typically, however, the oath is administered by a Supreme Court justice. Chief Justice William Rehnquist will again administer the oath to President Bush at his second inaugural.
