While there was no doubt that at noon yesterday Barack Obama became the 44th President — despite the flubbing of the oath by SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts —  they did a reboot at the White House today. Here’s the official White House statement that landed in my inbox:

The following is a statement from  White House Counsel Greg Craig.

“We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday.  But the oath appears in the Constitution itself.  And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time.”

THE WHITE HOUSE,  January 21, 2009.

More info about the event just in from pool reporter Wes Allison, Washington Bureau, St. Petersburg Times:

At 7:35 PM, Roberts administered the oath of office again to Obama in the Map

Room.

“We decided it was so much fun…” Obama joked while sitting on a couch.

Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool as Roberts donned

his black robe.

“Are you ready to take the oath?” Roberts asked.

“I am, and we’re going to do it very slowly,” obama replied.

Oath took 25 seconds. After a flawless recitation, Roberts smiled and said, “Congratulations, again.” Obama said, “Thank you, Sir.”

Smattering of applause.