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WASHINGTON * When President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20 as the 44th president of the United States, he will take the oath of office with his hand placed on the same Bible Abraham Lincoln used at his 1861 inauguration.
The Obama transition team announced its intention to use the Lincoln Bible Dec. 23.
Obama encouraged comparisons between himself and Lincoln during the presidential campaign, which, he kicked off in early 2007 on the steps of the Old Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, where Lincoln delivered his legendary "House Divided" speech in 1858 about the dangers of continuing to maintain a nation that was "half slave, half free."
The Jan. 20 inauguration also comes a few weeks before the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's Feb. 12, 1809, birth.
The worn, pinkish, velvet-covered Bible used during the 1861 inauguration isn't necessarily considered a significant book, except for the fact that it was used...