WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama plans to take the oath of office this month with his hand on not a single Bible, but on two — one used by Abraham Lincoln and another by Martin Luther King Jr.
King's Bible is particularly significant since the ceremony comes on Jan. 21, the federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader. King's Bible has never been used for a presidential inauguration.
Obama used the Lincoln Bible while taking the oath four years ago — the first time it had been used since the 16th president's 1861 inauguration. The president plans to use his wife's family's Bible for a private swearing-in at the White House Sunday, Jan. 20, when the constitution requires his second term to begin.
Public presidential inaugurations traditionally aren't held on Sundays.
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