By the constitution of the United States, elected officials are not required to take their oath of office specifically with the Bible or any other.
But most Presidents had in the past chosen to swear by the Bible. Most of the Bibles used have also had a tinge of history or family connection like when President Barack Obama chose the Bibles that belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. and President Abraham Lincoln for his swearing-in.
Also, President Donald Trump used a Bible given to him by his mother and the Bible used by a former US President, Lincoln..
Continuing with the tradition, Joe Biden, was sworn in as the 46th President of the U.S and the second Roman Catholic to govern the so called God’s own country with a Bible.
But it is a Bible with so much history behind it,
Here are 7 things to know about the 127- year-old Bible
- The 5-inch-thick Bible with a Celtic cross on the cover that has been owned by the Biden family since 1893
- Biden described the hefty, 127-year-old family bible as a family heirloom in a recent interview.
- Every important date in the Biden family’s history has been inscribed in this Bible ― including all the times Biden he has been sworn in as senator and as vice president.
- The Biden family Bible has been a feature of important moments in the president-elect’s political career.
- Biden was sworn in with the family Bible from a hospital room in 1972 when soon after he was elected as a Delaware senator, a car crash claimed the lives of his wife and 13-month-old daughter, and injured their two sons.
- Many years later, his son Beau Biden used the same Bible to swear in as Delaware’s attorney general. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015.
- Like when he was sworn in as Vice President, Jill, Biden’s wife, held the Bible during the presidential inauguration.
Source: Huffington Post
