Joe Biden Inauguration: America is experiencing the most unusual inauguration in its history

meIt is 11:48 am and the sun is rising when Joe Biden raises his right hand in an oath on the west side of the Capitol. His left hand rests on the voluminous old family Bible held by his wife Jill Biden. In front of him is John Roberts, president of the Supreme Court. “I solemnly promise that I will faithfully administer the office of President of the United States and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of my ability,” said Biden.

This makes Joseph “Joe” Robinette Biden II the 46th American president, at the age of 78, and, after John F. Kennedy, the second Catholic president. Immediately, it is 11:51 am, Biden turns to the people, gives a 21-minute speech, exactly in the place where exactly two weeks ago an angry extremist mob used violence and shouted for the result of the election.

“At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden opens his speech. It speaks of a “day of democracy”, it evokes hope and renewal. One unites as “one indivisible nation under God,” as it is called in the oath of allegiance. Biden thanks his predecessors from both parties who were present. Special thanks to Jimmy Carter, the 96-year-old former president who is unable to attend due to illness. Donald Trump’s name does not mention Biden.

It isn’t long before Biden tackles the deadly coronavirus – the number of his victims now exceeds that of the Americans killed in World War II. The president mentioned other current threats to the United States, white racism and domestic terrorism. All of this will be defeated. His speech is very reminiscent of what Biden has said over and over again in recent years, for example, when he declared his candidacy in Philadelphia in the spring of 2019.

“With unity we can do great things, important things,” says Biden. “This is our historic moment. And unity is the way forward ”. Besides Jimmy Carter, he mentions Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, his mother and father. Biden does not speak well of the situation in the United States. It refers to anger, hatred, extremism, anarchy, disease, unemployment. He knows that the forces of division are “deep and real.” But with unity one can accomplish so much, like overcome the deadly virus, that the “United States of America ”, as Biden likes to emphasize.

Listen to each other, differences of opinion belong to America. Democracy includes being able to disagree peacefully. “I will be a president for all Americans,” promises Biden: “I will fight as much for those who did not support me as for those who supported me.” That could be perhaps the biggest difference from its predecessor. Even if Biden doesn’t mention Trump and who has been in Florida for a long time at this hour, he’s still there.

For example, when Biden describes it as his task not only to defend the country, its constitution and democracy, but also to reject the lies. The world is looking at America. On foreign policy, Biden says he will rebuild alliances that had been strained for the past four years. “We can make America once again the leading force for good in the world,” he says. America was put to the test “and came out of it stronger.”

“We will get through this together,” says Biden, referring to the epidemic. You want to lead by the power of example. At the end of the day, Biden, a devout Catholic, asked his audience to pray for the silence of all those who died as a result of the pandemic. He bows his head, pauses for a moment, and then says, “Amen.” Now hope is needed, not fear; Light, not darkness, also decency, dignity and power to heal.

The United States will experience what is perhaps the most unusual inauguration in its history this winter Wednesday. Only a few people are present as a result of the pandemic, the event is not open to the public. Some snowflakes will fall before the ceremony, then the sun will prevail. A field filled with American flags on the National Mall commemorates the more than 400,000 deaths from Covid in the US Members of congress were able to bring a maximum of one person, guests were seated at a physical distance from each other.

For security reasons, Biden had to give up his plan to take the train from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington, just as he had done for decades as a senator and even as vice president. The Bidens flew to the capital on Tuesday. They began their evening program with a memorial to the Corona victims in front of the Lincoln Memorial, at the opposite end of the National Mall. Also present: Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.

The Bidens stayed at the government guest house, Blair House, near the White House. They attended a service Wednesday morning at Matthew Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Washington. The couple delayed their departure, initially waiting for Trump to finish his speech before his flight to Florida. Biden knows the unwritten rules and regulations of democracy, without which it cannot exist.

Before the ceremony began, it was clear that the nonpartisan tradition has not yet died. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen attended the inauguration, as did Republican leaders in Congress. Pence had offered his successor Harris the use of “Air Force Two” even before the inauguration. On the January 6 storm on Capitol Hill, Pence had led the certification of the election result in Congress, sealing his own defeat and the Trumps so to speak.

Pence was greeted with bipartisan applause; He stayed away from firing Trump at Andrews Air Force Base. Former President Bill Clinton, four years younger than Biden, tried to talk to Pence. The last president Barack Obama was applauded. Also present was George W. Bush, his predecessor. Later, married couples Biden, Obama, Bush and Clinton wanted to visit Arlington National Cemetery as a sign of unity.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar highlighted Harris’s presentation as the first African-American vice president, the first Asian-American and the first woman vice president. In America, “anything is possible,” Klobuchar said, and that’s an important sign for all children. Like Klobuchar, Republican Senator Roy Blunt recalled the “attack on the Capitol” two weeks earlier. The circumstances of this inauguration are “unprecedented”.

A friend of the Biden family, Jesuit Father Leo O’Donovan, opened the ceremony with a prayer. O’Donovan, who once lived in Münster in Westphalia and did his doctorate in theology there, evoked American patriotism, “with charity for all.” He asked God to help Biden in his search for reconciliation.

Lady Gaga, dressed in a voluminous red skirt, sang the national anthem, accompanied by the United States Marine Band. The 34-year-old singer had already supported Biden in the election campaign. A firefighter took an oath of allegiance. Then, around 11:40 a.m., Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president. Constitutional Judge Sonia Sotomayor confronted her. It is tradition that the vice president takes the oath first. In the event that something happens to the new president, a succession must be clearly arranged. In an expressive performance, Jennifer Lopez sang the song “This land is your land, this land is my land.”

The ceremony ended after a closing prayer. While still on Capitol Hill, Biden signed several proclamations, including the nomination of his ministers and other positions. In the afternoon, three hours after Biden’s swearing in, a “Parade for America” was on the program, with participants from every state and territory. Musicians from the University of Delaware and Howard University in Washington, where Biden and Harris had studied, had been selected to lead the presidential escort. Your job: escort Biden and Harris from 15th Street to the White House.

The parade would be moderated by actor, director and producer Tony Goldwyn and would include 1,391 virtual participants, 95 horses and nine dogs. Biden and Harris wanted to pay tribute to actor Jon Stewart, the band Earth, Wind & Fire, figure skater Kaitlyn Saunders, and various Olympians. The Coast Guard band played, “heroes” from all over the country performing. A resident physician and teacher who are doing extraordinary things in the epidemic, and a twelve-year-old trumpeter from Atlanta who had played all summer during hospital staff breaks to cheer them on.