‘Democracy has prevailed’
Biden becomes U.S. president in time of crisis
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, taking office at a moment of profound economic, health and political crises with a promise to seek unity after a tumultuous four years that tore at the fabric of American society.
With his hand on a five-inch-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Biden recited the 35word oath of office swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, completing the process at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changes hands.
The ritual transfer of power came shortly after Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her hand on a Bible that once belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Harris’s ascension made her the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history
and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second-highest office.
In his inaugural address, Biden declared that “democracy has prevailed” after a test of the system by a defeated president, Donald Trump, who sought to overturn the results of an election and then encouraged a mob that stormed the Capitol two weeks ago to block the final count.
But Biden called for Americans to put aside their deep and dark divisions to come together to confront the coronavirus pandemic, economic troubles and the scourge of racism.
“We must end this uncivil war — red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” Biden said in the 21-minute address that blended soaring themes with folksy touches. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes, as my mom would say, just for a moment.”
Biden used the word “unity” repeatedly, saying that he knew it “can sound to some like a foolish fantasy” but insisting that Americans had emerged from previous moments of polarization and can do so again.
“We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature,” he said. “For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.”
The ceremony brought to a close the stormy and divisive four-year Trump presidency. In characteristic fashion, Trump once again defied tradition by leaving Washington hours before the swearing-in, although Mike Pence, his vice-president, did attend.
The sight of the nation’s new president and vice-president on the same West Front of the Capitol occupied just two weeks ago by the marauding pro-trump crowd underscored how surreal the day was. Unlike most inaugurals suffused with joy and a sense of fresh beginning, the festivities on the nation’s 59th Inauguration Day served to illustrate America’s troubles.
Amid fear of further violence, Washington has been transformed into an armed camp, with some 25,000 National Guard troops joining thousands of police officers and a wide swath of downtown blocked off. With the pandemic still raging, Americans were told to stay away, leading to the eerie spectacle of a new president addressing a largely empty National Mall, filled not with people but with flags meant to represent the absent crowd.
Many of the usual inaugural customs were scrapped, including the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the gala evening balls.
Garrulous and loquacious, known for an incandescent smile, a sometimes overly familiar shoulder rub and a proclivity for gaffes, Biden practises the sort of feel-your-pain politics of empathy mastered by former president Bill Clinton and the call-me-anytime politics of relationships exemplified by the first president George Bush.
At 78, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history — older on his first day in office than Ronald Reagan was on his last — and even allies quietly acknowledge that he is no longer at his prime, meaning he will be watched for signs of decline. But he overcame the doubts to claim the prize of his lifetime nearly 34 years after kicking off the first of three presidential campaigns.