Joe Biden Becomes President: 12 Things You May Have Missed During An Inauguration Like No Other | US News

It was an inauguration like no other: no crowds, no outgoing president at the ceremony, and a surprise flurry of snow.

The few guests invited to the COVID-compliant spectator area, primarily international ambassadors and attachés, shrugged and held their shows above their heads as the flakes began to fall, moments before the oath began.

Here are the other 12 things you might have missed:

1. The armed limousine that took the Bidens to the parade had the license plate number 46, a nod to the fact that he has now become the 46th president of the United States. The license plate on Ms. Harris’s car was 49, as she just became the 49th Vice President of the United States.

2. Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama wore a shade of purple for the big day, a mix of red and blue. This seems to have been a symbol of his calls for unity between Republicans and Democrats.

3. Joe Biden vowed to use a Bible that has been in his family since 1893 and was used during his swearing-in as vice president in 2009 and 2013. It has a Celtic cross on its cover and was also used every time he was sworn in as a United States senator. Beau, Biden’s late son, also used the Bible for his own swearing-in ceremony as Delaware attorney general.

Four. In a sign of the times, Biden held a virtual naming ceremony at the White House for members of his administration. He stood in front of screens, each with dozens of people, as he swore in his new hires.

Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

5. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Donald Trump left a note for his successor in the Oval Office. Tradition holds that the former leader writes a welcome message with advice for the new president. George Bush’s warm and elegant missive to Barack Obama was widely shared on social media at the time, but at this time, we don’t know what Trump wrote except that Biden said the note was “very generous.”

6. A man was employed alone to clear the podium between speakers and artists to comply with COVID regulations (although there were some hugs among some of those present at the ceremony)

7. As President Biden took the oath, something moving was happening at the Delaware grave of his son Beau.

8. Ms. Harris was escorted to the ceremony by Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman two weeks after he was hailed as a hero for driving a pro-Trump mob away from the Senate chambers during the deadly riots.

9. She was sworn in by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

10. Sometimes it felt a bit like Lady Gaga’s coronation … with special guests Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The longtime Biden-supported singer sang a rousing rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner in a red silk couture ball gown skirt, a blue cashmere fitted jacket and a large gold dove brooch. of peace, complete with a gold and gold earpiece. microphone.

eleven. When Lady Gaga left the podium, the first person to acknowledge her stellar performance was her old friend Barack Obama, who gave her a good-natured smack and eyes that said “you nailed that girl.”

12. Amanda gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, was the youngest poet, aged 22, to read at a presidential inauguration. He recited his poem The Hill We Climb, with the apt line: “While democracy can be permanently delayed, it can never be permanently denied.” She wore a ring engraved with a caged bird, a gift from Oprah Winfrey, to symbolize the American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, a former inaugural poet.