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So far, it seems that I'm the only person in the world who noticed the mistake in the third sentence of Obama's Inaugural Address (please feel free correct me if I've missed something).
The sentence reads as follows: "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath." In fact, the correct number is 43.
Now, if you're thinking my conclusion hinges on whether Obama counted himself -- that's not it. Clearly, he WAS counting himself, as the speech was given soon after he and Chief Justice Roberts stumbled their way through the oath.
The reason the number 44 is erroneous is that Obama's speechwriters and editors must have assumed that since he is the 44th President, 44 people have taken the oath of office. However, as Presidential historians and history buffs well know, the number 44 is based on counting Grover Cleveland as both President number 22 and number 24. Cleveland won the presidency in 1884 and first took the oath of office in 1885. He then lost his bid for re-election in 1888, but ran again and won in 1892. Some consider counting him twice as an odd convention, but it is nevertheless generally accepted and I won't analyze it further here.
But however you count your presidents, there's no denying that Cleveland was only one person, and when you count the number of people who have taken the oath of office, you can only count him once. Thus, only 43 Americans have taken the oath of office, including Obama, and the third sentence of his inaugural address stands in error.
Whether this matter is of interest only to trivia buffs, or to those (like me) who sometimes get their kicks by tripping other people up, is another question. But there it is.
