President-elect Joe Biden is set to take the Oath of Office while placing his hand on a large Bible that is rich with family history. The hefty text is five inches thick and has been an heirloom in the Biden family for 127 years.
The president-elect has used the Bible at every ceremony he has been involved in since being first sworn in as a senator in 1973. That particular ceremony did not take place in Washington DC, but rather at the hospital bedside of his two sons, Hunter and Beau, after they had been involved in a car accident which claimed the life of Joe's first wife, Neilia, and their infant daughter Naomi.
Biden's son Beau went on to become the 44th Attorney General of Delaware, and was sworn into the position on the same Bible - Beau passed away from brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
In a recent interview with talk show host Stephen Colbert about the large Bible, Biden said:
“It's just been a family heirloom on the Biden side of the family, and every important date is in there....every time I've been sworn in for anything, the date has been on that and is inscribed on the Bible."
The soon-to-be first lady, Jill Biden, will have to hold the massive text with both hands because of its weightiness.
"Have you been working out?" Colbert quipped. "Why is your Bible bigger than mine? Do you have more Jesus than I do?"
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris intends on using two Bibles during the ceremony; one used by Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice, and the other by family friend Regina Shelton.