Donald Trump raised his right hand while placing his left hand on the Bible Monday afternoon. He then took the oath of office and was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

The tradition of swearing the oath of office on a Bible stretches back to George Washington, but not all presidents have observed it.

Some presidents did not use a Bible to take the oath of office, including Theodore Roosevelt, who did not use anything when he was sworn into office in 1901, and John Quincy Adams, who chose a legal book for his 1825 swearing-in, to signify his responsibility to uphold the U.S. constitutional law.

There are so many traditions on Inauguration Day, but only one is required by law, and that is saying the Oath of Office. Taking the Oath with your hand on a book According to the U.S. Department of State,

U.S. President Donald Trump took his oath of office on Monday 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. The apparent oversight has no practical impact,

During his 2017 inauguration, Trump used both a family Bible and the so-called Lincoln Bible, belonging to America’s 16th president. In 2021, Biden used a family Bible that date

President Trump took the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, without his hand on his bible. However, the Constitution doesn’t specify that a bible must be used—simply that the oath must be recited.

Legally speaking, it doesn't matter whether the U.S. president placed his hand on a bible. And he wouldn't be the first not to.