MICHAEL C. DORF When Did Barack Obama Officially Become Eligible to Act as President? What the Oath "Do-Over" Reveals About Legal Interpretation FindLaw columnist and Cornell law professor Michael Dorf discusses the now-famous do-over of the Presidential oath that was taken by Barack Obama, and administered by the Supreme Court's Chief Justice, John Roberts. Dorf addresses the question of the validity of the presidential actions Obama took before the do-over -- specifically, the signing of two executive orders. In addition, he considers the deeper meaning of the oath controversy, as a window into the interpretive difference between textualists, who focus on the letter of the law, and those who look to the law's (or in this case, the oath's) spirit and purpose.