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The God of the Bible is the one we need in our schools... the same God in the Bible that our Forefathers used!!!

The George Washington Inaugural Bible

"I Do Solemnly Swear . . . "

It is with these words that each American President since George Washington has taken the Oath of Office. With his hand on the Bible and eyes fixed squarely on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, every four years the President swears to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America." With those words, the President assumes an enormous responsibility. That responsibility is to "simply" guide our nation, indeed the hopes and dreams of our citizenry, for four years . . . through peace and prosperity as well as turmoil and war.

Since we are a nation that celebrates its history and relies upon tradition to carry on our democratic ideals, we wondered about the very first presidential Bible used at the very first Inauguration . . . the Bible that was used by our first President George Washington. We know that great documents outlining the form of our government are safely entombed at the National Archives and the Library of Congress and that Washington's own papers can be found at his home at Mount Vernon, but what about the Bible that was used at the first Inauguration? Was it an old Washington family heirloom? Was its use required when the General assumed the presidency? Has it been used by every President since Washington? Most importantly, does Washington's Bible exist today?

From Washington's first Inauguration in 1789 to the present, almost every President in a very public manner has placed his hand upon a Bible and, while raising his other hand towards the heavens, repeats the Oath of Office. And . . . before the eyes of a world that watches the ceremony unfold . . . the President-elect becomes the leader of the free world. Thus, though the use of a Bible is certainly not constitutionally required, it has become the focal point of every presidential Inauguration and the image of the taking of the presidential oath is certainly incomplete without it.

This is what America was founded on & if others don't like it let them go back to their own country!