Word is out that President-Elect Obama will be sworn in on January 20, 2009 using the same Bible that Abe Lincoln used for his first inauguration in 1861. That Bible has not been used in any inauguration since then. It has been in the Library of Congress for some time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sentimental about this kind of stuff so I thought it was kind of sweet.

It also reminded me of an episode of The West Wing wherein Pres. Bartlet was searching for an historically significant Bible on which he could be sworn in for his second term. Here’s the segment:

“Charlie, that Bible is the size of a Volkswagen. Get me the Washington Bible.”

…which has been used by by Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush.