Obama to take oath on Abraham Lincoln's Bible

WASHINGTON: When Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, he will place his hand on a Bible the 16th President used, 'The Washington Post' reported.

Obama announced his historic bid for the presidency from the steps of the statehouse in Springfield, Illinois, the same spot where Lincoln, another state legislator, began his quest.

Obama will use one of two Lincoln Bibles in the Library of Congress, the Post said.

There are several Bibles that boast a Lincoln pedigree still in existence. A family Bible is at his Kentucky birthplace, and another, famously presented in 1864 to the president by African-Americans grateful that the president had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, is in the archives at Fisk University in Nashville.

But Obama gravitated to the two Bibles in the library's collection. The Lincoln family brought one of them from Illinois when they moved to Washington in 1861 - but because it was packed among the household goods, it was not found in time to be used in Lincoln's first inaugural ceremony.

A substitute Bible was quickly provided, and Lincoln repeated the short oath of office given by chief justice Roger Taney - a moment recorded in the back of the book by the clerk of the Supreme Court.

The Bible was given to the library in 1928 by the widow of Lincoln's only surviving son, Robert.

Both historic Bibles will be part of the library's celebration of Lincoln's 200th birthday, which kicks off in February, the report said.