On March 4, 1913, Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated the 28th President of the United States. Boy Scouts provided crowd control for the inauguration and have served in that capacity at every inauguration since. While leading the nation during World War I, President Wilson relied heavily on the Boy Scouts of America to support the war effort at home. This included community service, selling war bonds and other activities.
On March 4, 1909, William Howard Taft was inaugurated as the 27th President of the United States. President Taft became the first Honorary President of the Boy Scouts of America in 1911. Every President since Taft has served Scouting in this role. Taft would later become the only president to also serve as a Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
In 1910, the first year of the Boy Scouts of America the BSA did not “Register” Scouts. Instead each Scout was “Certified.” The early BSA was still using the original British Boy Scout terms and symbols. Instead of receiving a registration card they received a document that certified them as a Scout. The BSA symbol printed on the certificate was the British Scout symbol, not the familiar BSA trefoil. Perhaps most unusual was usage of the British Scout Law. As a result the 1910 Certificate was printed with “The Nine Points of the Scout Law” and not our familiar twelve. Among the original BSA Nine Points of the Scout Law was the Eighth Point, “A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.”
