One Little Adverb

Can the placement of one adverb change the course of history? Barack Obama felt that an adverb out of order was sufficiently egregious as to warrant a do-over to dispel any doubts that he was, in fact, president of the United States.

Because of Chief Justice John Roberts' incorrect prompt and nerves on the part of both men, Obama deviated from the exact order of the oath as proscribed in the Constitution. (View the flub and read more about it here.)

The Constitution reads:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Obama said:
I, Barack… I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear ... that I will execute … the office of president of the United States faithfully … and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.

Does this misplacement mean, as some suggested, that Obama was not officially president? Obama technically became president at noon, before the oath was administered, and remained president with or without the oath. But why take any chances? The following day, Roberts and Obama gave the oath another try, this time without any hiccups.

Side note: Strict grammarians would argue that Roberts was right in finagling the adverbial information. After all, the Constitution's framers split the infinitive by inserting "faithfully" between the auxiliary verb "will" and the verb "execute." The New York Times offers some insight.