--- title: Why Trump Will Be Sworn Into Office With a Bible description: Why U.S. presidents put a hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office on Inauguration Day. canonical: https://time.com/7207967/trump-inauguration-oath-of-office-bible/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-19T14:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:27:57.716Z article:section: History og:title: Why Trump Will Be Sworn Into Office With a Bible og:description: Why U.S. presidents put a hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office on Inauguration Day og:url: https://time.com/7207967/trump-inauguration-oath-of-office-bible/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53a1cf1af628fde5/6998b289c8dcb45a1ab4ddf5/Donald-trump-bible-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Is Sworn In As 45th President Of The United States og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Trump Will Be Sworn Into Office With a Bible twitter:description: Why U.S. presidents put a hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office on Inauguration Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53a1cf1af628fde5/6998b289c8dcb45a1ab4ddf5/Donald-trump-bible-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Most U.S. Presidents Take the Oath of Office With a Hand on the Bible ## Video: Watch: Inauguration Day - Donald Trump Sworn In as 47th U.S. President [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Inauguration Day - Donald Trump Sworn In as 47th U.S. President](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rgxKaifi.m3u8) (2:01:30)  _Published 2025-01-20. President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as U.S. President for the second time, along with Vice President-elect JD Vance, by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an Inauguration Ceremony. The ceremony is followed by an Inaugural Address from Donald Trump. Trump and Vance are replacing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jan 19, 2025 2:00 PM UTC  Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (2L) administers the oath of office to U.S. President Donald Trump (L) as his wife Melania Trump holds the Bible and son Barron Trump looks on, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (2L) administers the oath of office to U.S. President Donald Trump (L) as his wife Melania Trump holds the Bible and son Barron Trump looks on, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C.Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jan 19, 2025 2:00 PM UTC For the second time, U.S. President-elect [Donald Trump](https://time.com/7200212/person-of-the-year-2024-donald-trump/) takes the oath of office on [Inauguration Day](https://time.com/4628822/every-inauguration-ever/) Monday in [Washington, D.C.](https://time.com/7207859/why-inauguration-day-is-on-january-20/), by raising his right hand and putting his left hand on top of a Bible. Why do presidents place a hand on the [Bible](https://time.com/4639596/inauguration-day-presidents-bible-passages/)? The answer is simple: tradition. That’s what the first President of the United States, [George Washington](https://time.com/4904661/donald-trump-robert-e-lee-george-washington/), did in 1789, [according to](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/presidential-inaugurations-i-do-solemnly-swear) the White House Historical Association. Organizers had [forgotten](https://time.com/4628822/every-inauguration-ever/) to bring a Bible to the ceremony, so he borrowed one from a Masonic lodge. Other presidents that were sworn in with the Bible that Washington used include [Jimmy Carter](https://time.com/5579674/jimmy-carter-dies/), [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://time.com/5605930/executive-privilege-history/), [Warren G. Harding](https://time.com/4000619/my-obsession-with-warren-hardings-mistress/), and [George H.W. Bush.](https://time.com/5353048/president-george-hw-bush-dead-speechwriter/) [Washington](https://time.com/5781285/george-washington-final-years/) also set a precedent of [kissing the Bible](https://www.aoc.gov/what-we-do/programs-ceremonies/inauguration) after taking the oath of office. Presidents followed suit, up until 1853, when Franklin Pierce placed his left hand on the Bible instead of kissing it, stopping the custom. Some incoming presidents use Bibles that have been in their families for generations. The incumbent, President Biden, was [sworn in](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/biden-inauguration-family-bible/index.html) with a Bible that has been in his family since the 19th century. At Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, he used [two Bibles](https://time.com/4641780/trump-inauguration-faith-religion-evangelical/)—one his mother gave him and the Bible that Lincoln was sworn in with at his first inauguration. Some presidents did not use a Bible to take the oath of office, including Theodore Roosevelt, who did not use anything when he was sworn into office in 1901, and John Quincy Adams, who chose a legal book for his 1825 swearing-in, to signify his responsibility to uphold the U.S. constitutional law. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7207967/trump-inauguration-oath-of-office-bible/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7207967/trump-inauguration-oath-of-office-bible/"},"headline":"Why Most U.S. Presidents Take the Oath of Office With a Hand on the Bible","datePublished":"2025-01-19T14:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:27:57.716Z","description":"Why U.S. presidents put a hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office on Inauguration Day.","url":"https://time.com/7207967/trump-inauguration-oath-of-office-bible/","keywords":["politics","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53a1cf1af628fde5/6998b289c8dcb45a1ab4ddf5/Donald-trump-bible-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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