 "President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington. AP")
Donald Trump was sworn in as US president today in Washington, DC.
During the swearing in, Trump raised his right hand and placed his left hand on the Bible.
He then took the oath of office and was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Trump said.
But why do US presidents take their oath of office on the Bible and not the US Constitution?
Let’s take a closer look:
Why is this?
There is no constitutional requirement that a Bible be used when swearing in the US president.
According to Article II, Section I, Clause 8 of the Constitution, the president-elect must take the oath of office and recite the specific words.
However, everything else is left up to those participating in the ceremony.
According to Time Magazine, this happens because of tradition.
George Washington, known as the Father of the Nation, did so in 1789 when being sworn in as first President of the United States.
However, when organisers realised no one had brought a Bible to the oath-taking ceremony, one was procured from a nearby Masonic lodge.
Washington also kissed the Bible after he sworn in.
Interestingly, Washington also began the tradition of taking the oath of office in public.
“The authority of our public officials is not arbitrary,” Denver Brunsman, a professor of history at George Washington University, was quoted as saying by Mental Floss. “These people are elected and then their authority rests with the Constitution and law.”
But where did Washington get the idea?
Brunsman said US officials, like in many other things, probably looked for inspiration from the UK.
In Britain, officials have been swearing their oaths to the King or Queen and the Church of England since the 1500s.
It also makes sense as every US president, thus far, has been Christian.
Presidents after Washington continued to follow this tradition as well.
However, in 1853, then President Franklin Pierce put an end to this after placing his left hand on the Bible.
Each president chooses his own Bible on which to take the oath.
Interestingly, Trump and Obama both swore their oaths on the Lincoln Bible.
Trump in 2017 also used a Bible that belonged to his mother.
He again used two Bibles in 2025.
As per CNN, Richard Nixon also used two Bibles from his family, while George W Bush swore his oath on a family Bible for his second term.
Biden in 2021 used a 19th Century Bible that had been in his family for generations.
He previously used the Bible when he was sworn in as Vice-President and as a Senator.
Some presidents have not used Bibles while swearing the oath of office.
Theodore Roosevelt used no book while being sworn in as president, while John Quincy Adams chose a legal book as a reminder of his oath to be faithful to the US Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson, who was an ardent advocate of the separation of church and state, did not use a Bible.
As per CNN, Lyndon B Johnson used a Catholic missal that belonged to the late President John F Kennedy.
With inputs from agencies