According to the White House Historical Association, George Washington began the tradition In 1789, when he borrowed a Bible from a Masonic Lodge to take his oath as the first president of the ...

The Congressional delay in certifying George Washington’s election ... scramble to locate one. A Masonic lodge came to the rescue by providing a thick Bible, bound in deep brown leather and ...

What did George Washington do? Almost 220 years ago, in 1789, Washington opened the King James version of a Masonic Bible to Genesis 49:13 -- "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea ...

Presidents take the oath keeping their hands on the Bible as it was done for the first time for George ... Bible to Washington's swearing-in ceremony and so he borrowed one from a Masonic lodge.