[beezdotcom]

Thomas Jefferson probably also owned a copy of Plato's Republic...would it make THAT book suitable for a swearing-in, as well?

[smoothsailing]

Might as well swear in on a stack of National Geographics, or MAD magazines.

[KarlInOhio]

I found an interesting fact at http://www.museumofworldwarii.com/TourText/Area08_USWarEffort.htm

FDR artifacts include items from Roosevelt's desk in the Oval Office, his signed transmission to Congress on the Lend-Lease Act, his wartime budget message to Congress, his copy of Mein Kampf, signed wartime Christmas greetings to veterans, and items from the conferences at Teheran and Yalta.

Roosevelt's copy of Mein Kampf? Would anyone suggest that Roosevelt was a follower of Adolf Hitler or even was trying to find something useful from his teachings? Or would a more valid comparison be to a doctor that has a book about cancer on his bookshelf to better understand it for its effective removal. I expect that Jefferson's copy was for the same reason - to understand it to best know how to fight it.