Washington: American president-elect Donald Trump plans to take the oath on the bible he was given by his mother when he graduated from Sunday Church Primary School at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, New York in 1955, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced.
He noted that his mother gave the bible to him “many years ago” . “In fact, it’s her writing right here. She wrote the name and my address and it’s just very special to me,’ Trump said.
Trump will also take the oath on the same burgundy velvet-bound bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his 1861 inauguration, the same bible that Barack Obama used for both of his inaugurations.
“In his first inaugural address, President Lincoln appealed to the ‘better angels of our nature,’” said inaugural chairman Tom Barrack.
“As he takes the same oath of office 156 years later, President-elect Trump is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country,’ Barrack added.
Barrack’s reference to Lincoln’s ‘better angels’ quote appears to be a call to unity after a divisive campaign, which itself has been followed by new revelations about the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia engaged in election hacking.
Up to 40 House Democrats have said they plan to skip the inauguration after Trump’s weekend spat with civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s election.
Lincoln said in his 1961 address on the eve of the Civil War, ‘We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”