What a Morning

The Bible Barack Obama used at Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony carries great historic and social significance. It was used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861.

For Lincoln, the book was an accident of history.

Lincoln's family Bible was unavailable for the swearing-in, most likely packed with belongings being shipped from his home in Springfield, Ill., to the White House. Instead, the clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll, provided a Bible.

The man who administered the oath to Lincoln was Chief Justice Roger Taney, who four years earlier wrote the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision upholding slavery.

Lincoln took the oath in the shadow of an unfinished Capitol dome with his right hand on the Bible. He then kissed the book, following a tradition started by George Washington.

The whole morning was monumental. Trenton woke up early with me to watch the pre - inauguration festivities. It was a special morning.

"..the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met."

"Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive….Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed."

Hope and a new beginning have been bestowed unto the American people once again.