A PERSONAL OATH

Sara Taylor seems to think that she owes Pres. Fredo her personal loyalty more than loyalty to the Constitution. (Others have noted this, among them are cat in cali and Paul Kiel)

From her Senate Judiciary Committee testimony¹:

MS. TAYLOR: I don't recall that. I don't know the answer to your question.

I will say, Senator, I was the deputy assistant to the president. I was a commissioned officer. I took an oath, and I take that oath to the president very seriously.

This is a little too close to another bad period in history:

Each member of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) swore an oath of personal allegiance to Adolf Hitler -- and not to the constitution. This oath went into effect on 2 August 1934, the day that Reich President Paul von Hindenberg died, and Hitler immediately consolidated the offices of president and chancellor.

As Louis L. Snyder succinctly states in his Encyclopedia of the Third Reich, "The rule of traditional law was now finished (156)." (For more information, please refer to the Works Cited at the end of this document.) The text of this oath, in German and in English, is as follows:


Die Vereidigung der Wehrmacht auf Adolf Hitler, 2.8.1934

"Ich schwöre bei Gott diesen heiligen Eid, daß ich dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes Adolf Hitler, dem Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht, unbedingten Gehorsam leisten und als tapferer Soldat bereit sein will, jederzeit für diesen Eid mein Leben einzusetzen."

The Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler, 2 August 1934

"I swear by God this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath."


Works Cited

Hofer, Walther (ed.). Der Nationalsozialismus Dokumente 1933-1945 (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Bücherei KG, 1957), p. 71.

Snyder, Louis L. Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (New York: Paragon House, 1989), pp. 156 and 257.

¹Federal News Service
July 11, 2007 Wednesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING
LENGTH: 21020 words
HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE;
SUBJECT: PRESERVING PROSECUTORIAL INDEPENDENCE: IS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE POLITICIZING THE HIRING AND FIRING OF U.S. ATTORNEYS? PART VI;
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT);
WITNESS: SARA TAYLOR, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS, THE WHITE HOUSE;
LOCATION: 226 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.