当选总统时乔·拜登周三宣誓就职时，他将使用一本有着127年家族历史的圣经。
拜登是天主教徒，他一直使用这本皮面装订的5英寸厚的书，这本书自1893年以来一直在他的家庭中，每次他在职业生涯中宣誓就职时都是如此。
美国联合通讯社(Associated Press)
四岁的博·拜登(前景)看着他的父亲乔·拜登宣誓就任美国总统
里面刻着他每次宣誓仪式的日期。拜登已故的儿子博在宣誓就任特拉华州司法部长时也使用了家庭圣经。
“每个重要的日子都在里面，”拜登在12月告诉电视主持人史蒂芬·科拜尔。
乔希·汉纳/盖蒂图像，文件
副总统乔·拜登在宣誓就职时把手放在拜登家族的圣经上
宪法不要求在圣经上宣誓，但现代总统坚持传统，并选择象征性的圣经作为就职日。
这个传统可以追溯到乔治·华盛顿总统，他在1789年使用共济会圣经宣誓就职。
斯坦本田/法新社通过盖蒂图像，文件
乔·拜登宣誓就任副总统，与他的妻子吉尔一起，吉尔在竞选期间手持家庭圣经
副总统当选人卡马拉·哈里斯将使用多本圣经宣誓就职，每本圣经都有个人意义。
一个是民权偶像罗莎·帕克斯的家庭圣经，一本1900年出版的大型厚重精装书。哈里斯选择的其他圣经包括一部属于最高法院首位黑人法官瑟古德·马歇尔的圣经，哈里斯说这启发了她的职业道路，还有一本属于一位亲密的家庭朋友里贾纳·谢尔顿夫人的圣经。
“当我举起我的右手，明天宣誓就职时，我身边有两位英雄，他们会为无声者说话，帮助那些需要帮助的人:瑟古德·马歇尔法官和谢尔顿夫人，”哈里斯周二在推特上写道。
The significance of the Bible Joe Biden is using on Inauguration Day
When President-electJoe Bidentakes the oath of office Wednesday, he'll do so using a Bible with 127 years of family history behind it.
Biden, who is Catholic, has used the leather-bound, 5-inch thick book, which has been in his family since 1893, each time he's been sworn into elected office during the course of his career.
Inscribed inside are the dates of each of his swearing-in ceremonies. Biden's late son Beau also used the family Bible when he was sworn in as Delaware's attorney general.
"Every important date is in there," Biden told television host Stephen Colbert in December.
Being sworn in on a Bible is not required by the Constitution, but modern-day presidents have adhered to tradition and chosen symbolic Bibles for their inauguration days.
The tradition itself dates back to President George Washington, who was sworn in using a Masonic Bible in 1789.
Vice-President elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in using multiple Bibles, each of which has personal significance.
One is the family Bible of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, a large heavy clothbound book, published in 1900. Other Bibles chosen by Harris include one that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice, who Harris has said inspired her career path, and a Bible that belonged to a close family friend, Mrs. Regina Shelton.
"When I raise my right hand and take the oath of office tomorrow, I carry with me two heroes who’d speak up for the voiceless and help those in need: Justice Thurgood Marshall and Mrs. Shelton,"Harris wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
