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Why do presidents place a hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office?

Time Magazine
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79% Informative

President-elect Donald Trump took the oath of office on Inauguration Day Monday in Washington , D.C. , by raising his right hand and putting his left hand on top of a Bible .

The first President of the United States , George Washington , used a Bible he borrowed from a Masonic lodge in 1789 .

Washington set a precedent of kissing the Bible after taking the oath.