The next president from the land of Lincoln

Obama’s victory speech on election night was not the triumphant hallelujah that some of his supporters wanted. Rather, it was an exercise in expectations management. Ever since his victory became a racing certainty, Obama has been trying to damp down expectations—the inspirational, the ‘planet will begin to heal’ rhetoric has taken a back seat in recent months—aware that expectations could so easily get so high that his first hundred days would be bound to be regarded as a disappointment.

This is what makes his choice of the Lincoln Bible so interesting. No president has used this Bible since Lincoln’s first inauguration (history does not record which Bible Lincoln used in 1865 when he delivered a far greater speech—the one that is inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln memorial). By being sworn in on this Bible, Obama is inviting comparisons with one of the greatest presidents; suggesting that his speech will not be another exercise in expectations management.