Secret Service oath

[RSherman]

13. "So help me God"

Of course they had to throw that in the oath.

I'm reading The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel and Ch. 23 is about oaths.
George Washington's ended with "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." Period.
The words "so help me God" do not appear in the oath prescribed in Article 2 of the Constitution.
The Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office.
On April 27, 1789, the House passed its first bill, a godless oath of office. Five days later, the Senate did the same.
No evidence suggests that Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, or Adams added "God" to the oath.
Chester Arthur had a private inauguration, at which he did not say "God". However, at a second inauguration, he added "God", a public reenactment done for show, strategic piety.

Boy oy boy, does "strategic piety" describe all the fake "God" stuff coming out of the mouths of Republican legislators.

"In God We Trust" was added to coins in 1863, the height of the Civil War, when there was a lot of religious fervor.

"Under God" was added to the Pledge in 1954, by Eisenhower, a Republican.

"The push to add “under God” to the pledge gained momentum during the second Red Scare, a period when U.S. politicians were keen to assert the moral superiority of U.S. capitalism over Soviet communism, which many conservatives regarded as 'godless'.”

Nixon was the first president to close a speech with "God bless America".