Obama to Take Oath on Bibles Used by Lincoln, Civil Rights Icon

At his swearing-in ceremony, President Obama is marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation by taking the presidential oath on Bibles used by President Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.

President Obama will take the oath of office for his second term January 21 on Bibles that were used by two of the most famous people in American history. At the swearing-in ceremony in Washington, he will use the same Bible President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration in 1861, as well as the Revered Martin Luther King Jr.’s “traveling Bible,” which the civil rights leader used for inspiration and for preparing sermons and speeches during his journeys across the United States to promote equal rights and nonviolence in the 1960s.

Although there is no constitutional requirement for the use of a Bible during the swearing-in, nearly all presidents have used Bibles for the ceremony, choosing a volume with personal or historical significance. President Obama also used Lincoln’s Bible during his first inauguration in 2009 (shown above).