Americans object as Trump chooses not to place hands on Bible during oath-taking, making him first president in decades to not do so

U.S. President Donald Trump took his oath of office on Monday, Jan. 20, with his right hand raised, but without placing his left hand on the two Bibles that his wife Melania held as she stood by his side. 

This led Americans to raise questions about it online. 

The top thing Americans searched for on Google in relation to Trump on Monday afternoon was about him not placing his hand on the Bible. 

During his first inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, Trump placed his right hand atop two Bibles held by the first lady as Roberts swore him in as the 45th president. 

Trump took the oath of office on Monday, Jan. 20, immediately after Vice President JD Vance was sworn in by Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 

As Vance took the oath of office, he placed his right hand on a Bible that was held by his wife, Usha Vance, as she also held one of their three children. 

But when it was Trump’s turn, he chose to have his hand my his side, instead of on the Bible. 

Though Trump is not the first president to take the oath of office without placing his hand on a religious book, he is the first one in over 100 years to not do so. 

At least four presidents took the oath without the Bible. 

The nation’s sixth president, John Quincy Adams, was sworn into office in 1825 while reading a law book, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. President Theodore Roosevelt also did not use a Bible when he took the oath of office in 1901 in the aftermath of the assassination of President William McKinley, according to the committee. 

In the wake of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One by placing his left hand on a Catholic missal, or prayer book, according to the LBJ Presidential Library.

Below are photos of past Presidents with their hand on the Bible during oath-taking.