Oath of office of the President of the United States with the president-elect repeating those phrases, until the oath was completed. By convention, incoming presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible or other book while taking the oath of office. In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with an altar Bible borrowed from the St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons lodge in New York, and he kissed the Bible afterward. Subsequent presidents up to and including Harry Truman, followed suit. Dwight Eisenhower broke that tradition in 1953 when he said a prayer instead of kissing the Bible. Theodore Roosevelt did not
Secretary to the President of the United States positions in agencies and departments, from whence they drew their salaries since the White House lacked statutory or budgetary authority to create new staff positions. It wasn't until 1939, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term in office, that the foundations of the modern White House staff were created using a formal structure. Roosevelt was able to get Congress to approve the creation of the Executive Office of the President reporting directly to the President which included the White House Office. As a consequence, the office of Secretary to the President was greatly diminished in stature (mostly due to the lack