(NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump, when taking his most recent oath of office, did not appear to place his left hand on either of the Bibles brought to the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.
The placement of Trump’s left hand, however, has no bearing on the legitimacy of his first day back at the job.
The U.S. Constitution does not stipulate that a president-to-be place his or her hand on a Bible when taking the Oath, because each president who recites this oath or affirmation is “bound” by the words themselves, per Article VI. The same article also says that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Article II, meanwhile, merely states that the chief executive of the United States must recite the oath before being able to take office. (Interestingly, there is also no stipulation that the oath of office end with “so help me God,” though it has become customary.)
Throughout history, there have also been several presidents who were not sworn in using a Bible. Among them, John Quincy Adams brought a “volume” of U.S. laws, and Theodore Roosevelt didn’t swear on a Bible when he was hastily sworn into office after William McKinley’s death. During Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration on Air Force One — only hours after John F. Kennedy’s assassination — he placed his hand on a Catholic missal (a book containing text used for religious services) belonging to the former president.
Calvin Coolidge, in his 1929 autobiography, also claims he didn’t use his family Bible when he was sworn in at his family’s Vermont home in the wake of Warren G. Harding’s death.
“The Bible which had belonged to my mother lay on the table at my hand. It was not officially used, as it is not the practice in Vermont or Massachusetts to use a Bible in connection with the administration of an oath,” he wrote.
Like Coolidge, Trump did indeed have two Bibles nearby when taking his most recent oath of office — one given to him by his great-grandmother, and another used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration — which his wife Melania held up nearby. It is unclear whether he intended to place his hand on those Bibles, or if he intentionally refrained from doing so.
In any case, most modern presidents — Biden, Obama, and even Trump during his first oath — have indeed placed their hand upon the Bible, despite there being no requirement to do so.
