Donald Trump will lay his hand not just on one but two Bibles when he's sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Friday, Jan. 20, officials announced.
One of the Bibles is the same one President Abraham Lincoln used during his first inauguration on March 4, 1861. Incidentally, that was the same Bible used by President Barack Obama during the two times he was sworn into office in 2009 and 2013, reports said.
"President-elect Trump is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country," Presidential Inaugural Committee Chairman Tom Barrack said in a statement.
Trump will be administered the oath by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.
Trump's first Bible was given by his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, on June 12, 1955, two days shy of his ninth birthday, when he graduated from Sunday Church Primary School at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, New York, according to the CBN News. He has kept it ever since.
The Bible is a Revised Standard Version with his name embossed on the front cover. Inside, his mother wrote his graduation date and details about the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Lincoln's Bible has only previously been used by Lincoln and Obama, CBS News reported. The Bible, bound in burgundy velvet with a gold-washed white metal rim along the edges of the covers, is part of the collections of the Library of Congress and has been used at three inaugurals: 1861, 2009, and 2013.
Trump is taking over the White House at a time of deep political rift in America following a bitter presidential election campaign. A number of Democratic members of Congress plan to boycott his inauguration, among them Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who has described Trump as not "a legitimate president," claiming he won the election with help from Russian hackers.
When Lincoln was first sworn into office, he addressed his critics by saying, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."
A month later, the Civil War erupted.
