The Inaugural Bibles
January 21, 2013 4:16PM
US Vice President Joe Biden(L) is sworn-in as his wifeJill(C) holds the Bible during the 57th Presidential Inauguration ceremonial swearing-in at the US Capitol on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO / Stan HONDASTAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images
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Updated: February 23, 2013 6:27AM
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden used four Bibles when they took their official oaths on Sunday and ceremonial oaths on Monday. The Bibles have historical significance, both personally and politically.
“The Robinson Family Bible:” This is the Bible the president used on Sunday, for the official swearing in. “The Bible was a gift from the First Lady’s father, Fraser Robinson III, to his mother, LaVaughn Delores Robinson on Mother’s Day in 1958. Mrs. Robinson was the first African American woman manager of a Moody Bible Institute’s bookstore and she used this Bible regularly.”
The Lincoln Bible: One of two Bibles Obama used on Monday, this was used by President Abraham Lincoln at his first Inauguration. Obama chose it for his first swearing-in four years ago. “The Lincoln Bible is part of the collections of the Library of Congress and was originally purchased by William Thomas Carroll, Clerk of the Supreme Court, for use during Lincoln’s swearing-in ceremony on March 4, 1861. The Bible itself is bound in burgundy velvet with a gold-washed white metal rim around the three outside edges of both covers, and all of its edges are heavily gilded.”
“The King Bible:” The other Bible Obama used Monday, it was the civil rights leaders’s “travelling Bible.” “An avid reader who was constantly on the road, Dr. King typically traveled with a selection of books that included this Bible. It was used for inspiration and preparing sermons and speeches, including during Dr. King’s time as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.”
“The Biden Family Bible:” Vice President Joe Biden took the oath on this one. It is “five inches thick, has a Celtic cross on the cover and has been in the Biden family since 1893.
“He used it every time he was sworn in as a U.S. Senator and when he was sworn in as Vice President in 2009. His son Beau used it when he was sworn in as Delaware’s attorney general.”
Source: The 57th Presidential Inauguration Media Guide
