Biden faces challenges on a scale seen by few before him
Perhaps never before has a new US president been immediately faced with such tough challenges on his first day as Joe Biden when he takes the oath in January.
Mr Biden is set to take the helm of a nation beset by complex problems, from spiralling Covid- 19 cases and a battered economy to climate change and a divided society.
And while a lot can change between election night and inauguration day on January 20, here are some of the main challenges facing America.
The Covid- 19 pandemic
Cases of corona virus in the US are spiralling to new highs, despite claims by President Donald Trump that the administration is “turning the corner”.
Nearly 10 million people have contracted the virus so far and more than 230,000 have died, according to the New York Times.
Mr Biden has pledged to listen to science, ensure public health decisions are informed by public health professionals, and vowed to restore trust and accountability.
His first call may well be re hiring popular top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci, whom Mr Trump had threatened to fire after the election.
A run- in with the conservative- leaning Supreme Court
The death of revered Supreme Court justice Ruth Bad er G ins burg and her replacement with Amy Coney Barrett means that the nation’s top court now has a 6- 3 conservative majority.
In recent years the court has narrowly ruled in favour of same- sex marriage and preserved abortion rights despite a 5- 4 conservative leaning.
But the new make- up of the court could spell trouble for Mr Biden, not least because Mr Trump vowed to bring the election before the justices in the event of a contested result.
Jobs and the economy
Mr Biden will face a tough task in righting the ship when it comes to an economy ravaged by the pandemic.
Millions have lost their jobs and the unemployment rate is higher than it was in the Great Recession in 2007- 09.
The economy shrank by more than 30 per cent in the second quarter but has since reportedly made strong gains.
The former vice president has pledged to “build back better” and create millions of jobs by putting people to work by enlisting them to help fight the pandemic, including through a public health jobs corps.
Climate change
As well as grappling with Covid and the economy, Mr Biden takes the top job amid increasingly urgent calls for action on climate change.
Under President Trump, the US controversially withdrew from the Paris Agreement.
Division in American society and calls for action over systemic racism
The past four years have seen US society become increasingly divided, with widespread protests calling out racism in the country following the fatal arrest of George Floyd, and a notable rise in activity by farright groups.
A trade deal with Britain?
Also on Mr Biden’s to- do list will be making a decision over any post- Brexit trade deal with the UK.
Mr Bid en has previously tweeted that any trade deal “must be contingent” upon respect for the Good Friday Agreement and pre - venting the return of a
hard border in Ireland. Global perception of America
The US’S global popularity has suffered in recent years and has taken a particularly big hit due to its handling of the pandemic. A 13- nation study by the Pew Research Centrefound that 41 per cent of people polled in the UK expressed a favourable opinion of the US while only 31 per cent in France saw the US positively.