During the recent presidential inauguration, First Lady Melania Trump presented two Bibles to President Donald Trump, a gesture reminiscent of the previous inauguration ceremony. However, unlike before, the president did not place his left hand on the Bibles while taking his oath. It is important to note that there is no constitutional requirement for a president to place their hand on a religious text during the swearing-in process.
Historically, several presidents have opted not to use Bibles during their inaugurations. John Quincy Adams used a volume of law, Theodore Roosevelt took his oath without any books or religious texts, and Lyndon B. Johnson utilized a Catholic missal that belonged to President John F. Kennedy following his assassination.
Former President Joe Biden, during his inauguration four years ago, used a 19th-century Bible that has been in his family since the late 1800s. Similarly, Vice President Kamala Harris, during her recent swearing-in ceremony, selected two Bibles for the occasion. One Bible belonged to former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, while the other was owned by Regina Shelton, Harris' former neighbor in California, whom she considers a second mother.
