President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn-in as 44th president of the United States with the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used when he took the oath of office more than a century ago.
The Lincoln Bible is in the collection of the Library of Congress and was shown to the media this week.
"And government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth." On election night, president-elect Barack Obama borrowed this line from President Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address.
But the references to Lincoln go further.
This Bible, that President Lincoln used for his swearing in, will be used by Mr. Obama when he takes the oath of office in January.
President Lincoln is known for his mission to abolish slavery in the mid-19th century.
The Lincoln Bible is part of the rare book and special collections at the Library of Congress in Washington. Clark Evans heads one of the sections there. "There is a palpable connection between Mr. Lincoln the great emancipator and having this Bible used by our first African American president," he said.
The Bible was purchased for Lincoln's first inauguration in 1861 by a clerk of the US Supreme Court. The court's seal authenticates its historic use. Evans says the Bible is not usually exhibited, except on special occasions like this.
Evan stated, "One of the beauties of the timing of this inauguration is that just a few weeks after is the bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth."
The presidential inaugural committee says Mr. Obama will be the first president sworn-in with that Bible since President Lincoln used it almost 150 years ago.
