In Transition

Barack Obama is adding another Lincolnesque touch to his inauguration. First he summoned memories of Abraham Lincoln's 1861 inaugural train ride from Illinois to Washington by deciding that he too would travel to the capitol by train with stops in Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore.

Now, his Inaugural Committee has announced he will take the oath of office using the same Bible on which Lincoln was sworn in on March 4, 1861. It is traditional for Presidents to use a Bible for their swearing-in, but Obama will be the first to use the Lincoln bible.

George Washington had started the precedent at his inauguration in 1789, using a Masonic bible. Three presidents also used that bible - Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush. The current George Bush wanted to use it in 2001 but couldn't because of inclement weather. Jimmy Carter used a family bible, Ronald Reagan swore on his mother's bible and Bill Clinton used a King James Bible handed down by his grandmother. (The Architect of the Capitol has a complete list of Bibles used by the Presidents where known, and the passage to which they were opened).

Lincoln did not use his family Bible because it had been packed away with the family belongings which were still en route from Springfield, Illinois. So William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court, bought another Bible, bound in burgundy-velvet and with the seal of the Supreme Court inside, for use at the swearing-in. Both Bibles are in the Library of Congress and the inaugural Bible will be on display there in Washington from February 12 through May 9.