US Inauguration: Joe Biden Sworn in as 46th President of the United States

Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” when he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a multitude of crises.

“The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heard. We have learned again that democracy is precious and democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said. “This is America’s day. This is democracy day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and determination.”

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Biden then turned to the challenges ahead, acknowledging the growing coronavirus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States. He looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the deep economic cost of the pandemic and where the summer protests laid bare the nation’s renewed recognition of racial injustice.

“We have a lot to do in this winter of danger and significant possibility: a lot to repair, a lot to restore, a lot to heal, a lot to build and a lot to gain,” Biden said. “Few people in our nation’s history have had more challenges or encountered a more challenging or difficult time than the time we are in now.”

The absence of his predecessor underscored the healing that is needed. Ignoring tradition, Donald Trump left Washington this morning before the inauguration instead of accompanying his successor to Capitol Hill. Although three other former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama – gathered to watch the transfer of power ceremony, Trump, awaiting his second impeachment trial, flew to Florida after stoking grievance among his supporters with the lie that Biden’s victory was illegitimate.

Biden, in his third run for president, bet his candidacy less on a distinctive political ideology than on galvanizing a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy.

Biden did not mention Trump by name in the opening moments of his inaugural address, but he soon alluded to the divisions his predecessor had helped create.

“I know that the forces that divide us are deep and real. But I also know that they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh and ugly reality of racism.” nativism, fear, demonization that have long torn us apart, “Biden said.

“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the way forward and we must face this moment as the United States of America.”

Biden came into office with great empathy and determination born of personal tragedy, as well as deep experience forged over more than four decades in Washington. At 78, he is the oldest sitting president.

More history was made by her side, as Kamala Harris became the first woman to serve as vice president. The former US Senator from California is also the first black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and will become the highest-ranking woman to serve in government.

The two were sworn in during a dedication ceremony with few parallels in history. Tens of thousands of soldiers are on the streets to provide security precisely two weeks after a violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by the Republican president, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to avoid certification of Biden’s victory.

“Here we are, just days after an unbridled crowd thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people,” Biden said. “To stop the work of our democracy. To expel us from this sacred ground. It didn’t happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. Never.”

The tense atmosphere evoked the inauguration of Lincoln in 1861, who was secretly transported to Washington to avoid assassins on the eve of the Civil War, or the inauguration of Roosevelt in 1945, when he opted for a small and secure ceremony at the White House in recent months. of the Second World War.

The day began with an outreach across the aisle after four years of bitter partisan battles under Trump. At Biden’s invitation, Congressional leaders from both parties bowed their heads in prayer in socially distanced service just blocks from the White House.

Trump is the first president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor. In a cold wind, Marine One took off from the White House and soared over a deserted capital city for its own farewell celebration at nearby Joint Base Andrews.

There, he last boarded Air Force One as president for the flight to his Florida property.

“I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening and telling you that the future of this country has never been better,” said Trump, who wished the incoming administration well but once again declined to mention Biden. by name.

Trump adhered to tradition by leaving a note for Biden in the Oval Office, according to the White House, which did not release its contents. And Trump, in his parting words, hinted at a political comeback, saying “we’ll be back in some form.”

Trump’s second impeachment trial could begin this week. That could test the ability of the Senate, which is about to come under Democratic control, to balance impeachment proceedings with confirmation hearings and votes on Biden’s cabinet options.

Biden was eager to go big early on, with an ambitious first 100 days that include a push to accelerate the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to anxious Americans and to pass a $ 1.9 trillion virus relief package. Dollars. On the first day, he will also send an immigration proposal to Capitol Hill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.

He also planned a 10-day barrage of executive orders on matters that do not require congressional approval, a combination of substantive and symbolic steps to relax the Trump years.

Among the planned steps: to lift travel restrictions for people from several predominantly Muslim countries; rejoin the Paris climate agreement; issue a mask mandate for those on federal property; and order agencies to figure out how to reunite separated children from their families after crossing the border.