Obama To Be Sworn In On Lincoln Bible
Check out the nice slide show here:
http://www.pic2009.org/blog/entry/president-elect_barack_obama_to_be_sworn_in_using_lincolns_bible/
With all of the allusions Obama has made to Lincoln, I was expecting this little bit of symbolism, and I'm glad to see that it will now happen. From Huffington Post:
President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. Obama will be the first President sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its initial use in 1861.
"President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in," said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau. "The President-elect is committed to holding an Inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage."
The Bible 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 Lincoln family Bible, which is also in the Library of Congress's collection, was unavailable for the ceremony because it was packed away with the First Family's belongings, still en route from Springfield, IL, to their new home at the White House.
Maybe it would be nice to see an in-coming president swear their oath to uphold the Constitution on a copy of the Constitution itself, but I doubt that the country is ready to dispense of the symbolism of swearing on the Bible. I've always thought it odd that non-Christians were supposed to take this seriously, in court room settings and such. And as for the wingnuts, I'm sure it won't be long before we're hearing the "he's a secret-Muslim anyway, so his oath on the Bible is meaningless and insincere", or some such clap-trap like that.
For me, though, the symbolism of swearing on the same tome as the last Great Uniter is good enough for me. It's an historic volume, and it's nice to see it trotted out for the first time since 1861.
It is interesting to revisit the final words of Lincoln's inaugural address:
I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stre[t]ching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Anyone want to place a bet on these words appearing somewhere in Obama's address?
Some interesting inauguration history:
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As Ryan Johnson explains it, George Washington's inauguration ceremony was painstakingly planned down to the tiniest detail about seating arrangements -- with just one exception.
As the first president of the United States arrived at New York's City Hall by horse-drawn carriage and prepared to step onto the open balcony that April 30 in 1789, it belatedly occurred to organizers that there ought to be a Bible on which Washington could take the oath of office.
One of the men at hand, parade marshal Jacob Morton, also happened to be master of the St. John's Lodge No. 1 of the Masons and offered to provide one from the lodge, located nearby at the corner of Water and Wall streets. The organization's 1767 King James Version was rushed to the hall and opened to Genesis, at the end of Chapter 49 and the beginning of Chapter 50, where Washington placed his hand for the ceremony.
As he completed the oath written for the occasion, Washington added the unscripted words, "I swear, so help me God," and bowed to kiss the Bible.
Thus was born a tradition followed by almost every one of the 42 presidents inaugurated since then, including some who have used the very same Bible.
It's an informative article, and includes this interesting nugget:
Records kept by the Architect of the Capitol suggest only one president in the 216 years since Washington was inaugurated did not take the oath of office with one hand on a Bible. Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, "affirmed"-- but did not "swear" -- his oath with one hand on a law book, instead of a Bible. Some historical records say Pierce did so because of a crisis of faith after his only remaining child, an 11-year-old boy, was killed in a train accident a few weeks before the inauguration.
I doubt that any president-elect could get away with that today.
