As Donald J. Trump raised his right hand to take the oath of office as president on Monday, his left stayed at his side. Although his wife, Melania Trump, held two Bibles, Mr. Trump did not put his hand on either.
The longstanding tradition of taking the presidential oath with one hand on a Bible stretches back to George Washington and was observed by Mr. Trump in 2017. But doing so is not a requirement.
The reason Mr. Trump did not place his hand on either of the Bibles Mrs. Trump was holding — a family Bible and a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln — was not immediately clear. The White House did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
At his first inauguration, George Washington used the altar Bible from a nearby Masonic Lodge, and kissed it after taking the oath.
But the Constitution requires simply that the president take the oath before assuming the office. It does not require a Bible, or any religious text.
Still, presidents have overwhelmingly followed Washington’s lead. (Franklin Pierce in 1853 broke the precedent of also kissing the Bible.)
In rare cases when a Bible was not used, presidents have placed their hand on something that signifies a higher power. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, placed his hand on a book of law. Lyndon B. Johnson, aboard Air Force One after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, used a Catholic prayer missal that was found on the plane.
When Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in after William McKinley’s assassination in 1901, he did not use a Bible.
Tim Balk contributed reporting.
