In his latest nod to our nation's powerful early history, president-elect Barack Obama has chosen to take the oath of office, to uphold the United States Constitution, using the same bible the Abraham Lincoln used when he was sworn in on March 4, 1861.

According to the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Inaugural Bible has not been used in any other inauguration. It is a powerful symbol of Lincoln's strength and wisdom during a time when the survival of the United States of America was at stake.
Following the lead of seven states in the lower South [ ] the slave states of the upper South were threatening to secede from the Union. Amid fears of assassination, the president-elect had secretly arrived in Washington on Feb. 23, 1861.

To view the Lincoln Inaugural Bible today is to conjure up the remarkable scene which unfolded on the East Front of the Capitol almost 147 years ago. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, then 84 years old. As the author of the infamous "Dred Scott" decision of 1857, which held in part that Congress did not have the power to abolish slavery in the territories, Taney was clearly no friend to Lincoln or the cause of emancipation. In the Inaugural Address which followed, President Lincoln appealed to his countrymen to follow "the better angels of our nature." Source

The Lincoln Bible is part of the rare book and special collections at the Library of Congress in Washington. Clark Evans heads one of the sections there. "There is a palpable connection between Mr. Lincoln the great emancipator and having this Bible used by our first African American president," he said.

The Bible was purchased for Lincoln's first inauguration in 1861 by a clerk of the US Supreme Court. The court's seal authenticates its historic use. Evans says the Bible is not usually exhibited, except on special occasions like this.

Evan stated, "One of the beauties of the timing of this inauguration is that just a few weeks after is the bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth." Source

When Barack Obama is sworn in, 146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, the weight of our nation and much of the world will settle fully on his shoulders. I believe that objects hold energy and that history holds solutions and strategies to address contemporary problems and dilemmas. In my opinion, Obama's decision to use Lincoln's bible is an inspired one.