‘I WILL BE A PRESIDENT FOR ALL AMERICANS.’
President Joe Biden calls for unity, healing at his inauguration
WASHINGTON — Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, assuming office amid several crises and calling on a beleaguered nation to turn the page on one of the most divisive chapters in its political history.
Before taking his oath on the Capitol’s West Front, Biden saw a historic barrier shattered as Kamala Harris, formerly a senator from California, was sworn in as the first woman, Black person and South Asian American to become vice president. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered Harris’ oath.
In his inaugural address, Biden tried to rally the country to meet the historic challenges of COVID-19, a struggling economy, racial tensions and political divisions that have provoked violence and death.
“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity,” the new Democratic president said.
Calling for unity is an inaugural staple, but Biden’s appeal resonated due to the country’s dire straits. He plainly was banking on Americans’ desire to transcend politics and find ways to quell extremism, control the pandemic and rebuild the economy.
In his 21-minute address, Biden made note of the lingering damage from his predecessor’s postelection campaign to stay in power — damage that was still evident in places throughout the Capitol, which had been breached just 14 days earlier by a mob supporting the outgoing president.
“We have learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile, and at this hour, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said.
His address, while urging conciliation, was laden with stinging implied indictments of his predecessor’s legacy.
“We must reject the culture where facts themselves are manipulated, even manufactured,” he said, calling for a change of political culture, so that people could disagree without “this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.”
“We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts,” he went on, “if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes.”
And Biden spoke directly to Trump’s supporters: “To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out, as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. I pledge this to you: I will be a president for all Americans.”
Congressional Republicans were complimentary of Biden’s address, but turned their attention to policy details.
“It was a good speech, and I hope that, in terms of serving as president, he sticks with that,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who immediately raised concerns about an executive order Biden was about to sign canceling Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. “It was a speech of unity, and it’s important to govern that way as well.”
Lingering partisan tensions were a subtext in a post-inaugural event inside the Capitol, where congressional leaders gave gifts to Biden and Harris.
“As leaders we are judged not by our words but by our actions,” said House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who was one of outgoing President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters and voted just after the Capitol siege to challenge Biden’s Electoral College victory. “Let’s go forth from here together — accomplish great things.”
A few hours earlier, Trump had left Washington for Florida, making one last trip from Joint Base Andrews on Air Force One to West Palm Beach after a small farewell rally at the airport. Just moments after the Trumps departed, the president-elect and his wife Dr. Jill Biden went to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle for morning Mass, a reminder that for only the second time in history, the nation has a Roman Catholic leader.
The church service allowed Biden to start his day with a show of bipartisanship. Joining him at Mass were Congress’ top Republicans — McCarthy and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Among the Republicans attending the inauguration ceremony was former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin.
“Our institutions were tested this year and our institutions passed the test. I’m here out of respect for the peaceful transfer of power and for the institutions,” Ryan said, adding, “Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the United States and I’m here to honor this process.”
Rarely has a new president had less need for an orientation to the White House: Biden, at 78 the oldest man to become president, brings to the job 50 years of governing experience as senator and vice president. He has run for president three times in the past 33 years. Now he takes on the job of his dreams, but at a nightmarish time of health, economic and societal crises.
He took the oath with his hand on a family Bible that he used for swearing-in ceremonies as vice president and senator, an heirloom that has been in his family since 1893.
Biden’s view from the Capitol, looking across the National Mall to the Washington Monument, was devoid of the hundreds of thousands typically in attendance. The crowd limitations were not only a precaution against spreading the coronavirus that has led to over 400,000 U.S. deaths, but also a safeguard against continued threats of violence by pro-Trump domestic terrorists.
An unprecedented deployment of military and law enforcement personnel stood guard, turning the area around the ceremonial site and the city beyond into an armed encampment.
For the first time in history, the incoming president was joined on the inaugural platform with a vice president who is not a white man, a pivotal moment for a nation still struggling to end racial disparities. It was especially poignant for Black women who have been an important if underappreciated part of the Democratic Party.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, a longtime friend of Harris, said Harris’ ascension to national office was “just a remarkable historic moment for me.”
“Black women have fought so hard to elect other people, to be part of this Democratic Party, to get people out to vote,” Lee said. “We never would be here had it not been for the work and the struggle and the fights” of Black women.
The dignitaries in attendance included three former presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — as well as Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016. While Trump stayed away, his vice president, Mike Pence, showed up.
The ceremony, which began with a light snow falling, featured a lineup of celebrity performers, including Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks and Lady Gaga.
As Lady Gaga sang an unconventional rendition of the national anthem, the sun emerged, and it stayed out to shine as Biden spoke.
Yet reminders of the threat of violence were everywhere: Some House members wore body armor. Harris was escorted by Eugene Goodman, the Capitol Police officer newly famous for his videotaped defense of the Senate against the rioters Jan. 6.
“It’s on one hand heartbreaking,” said Rep. Dean Phillips, DMinn., “and on the other a very poignant reminder of the fragility of democracy.”