Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the
United States on 21 January. As is tradition, he will do by placing
one hand on the Bible.
Four years ago, he used Abraham Lincoln’s bible;
this time he will be using the black leather bible which Martin Luther
King carried with him on all his journeys as a pastor, to find
inspiration for his sermons and in his battle for civil rights.
Obama, who is the first president since 1861 to
use the Lincoln Bible, will be the third to use two different bibles for
his inauguration. His predecessors, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and
Richard Nixon also used two bibles.
The Washington Post reports this is
one of the many details in what looks like a complex inauguration
ceremony. Details which are gradually emerging as the big day
approaches.
King’s family issued a statement saying that he
would be “deeply moved” to see Obama use the travelling Bible on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, “and we hope it can be a source of strength for the
President as he begins his second term.”
The Presidential Inaugural Commission in charge of
organising the ceremony has informed that Obama and the Vice President
Joe Biden will take their oath privately on 20 January, as is required
by the American Constitution.
For this first ceremony the President will
use the bible belonging to the first lady’s family.
Michele’s father,
Fraser Robertson III, had given the bible to his wife on mother’s day in
1958.