‘DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED’
Biden and history-making Harris take office and try to calm a nation rattled by pandemic and Capitol riot ‘‘
This is America’s day.
This is democracy’s day. A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve.
President Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in on Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, assuming leadership of a country ravaged by disease, dislocation and division with a call to “end this uncivil war” after four tumultuous years that tore at the fabric of American society.
Biden sought to immediately turn the corner on Donald Trump’s polarizing presidency, inviting Republicans to join him in confronting the nation’s dire economic, social and health crises even as he immediately began dismantling his predecessor’s legacy with orders to halt construction of his border wall, lift his travel ban and rejoin the Paris climate agreement.
With his hand on a 5-inchthick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Biden recited the 35-word oath administered by Chief Justice
John Roberts at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the constitutionally prescribed noon hour. Vice President Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in a few minutes earlier by Justice Sonia Sotomayor using a Bible that once belonged to the late Thurgood Marshall, the civil-rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Harris thus became the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the second-highest office.
The drama of the moment was underscored by the sight of Biden taking the oath on the same West
Front of the Capitol seized just two weeks ago by a marauding mob trying to block final ratification of Trump’s election defeat. Without ever naming Trump, who left the White House early in the morning for Palm Beach but still faces a Senate trial for provoking his supporters, Biden said that the United States’ democratic experiment itself had come under assault by extremism and lies but ultimately endured.
“Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge,” the president said in a 21minute inaugural address that blended soaring themes with folksy touches.
“The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded,” he added. “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
Already abbreviated because of Trump’s refusal to concede, the transition that ended Wednesday was like none before, not just from one party to another but from one reality to another. A president who came to Washington to blow up the system was replaced by one who is a lifelong creature of it. A president who seemed capable of almost anything at any moment was dislodged by one who fits comfortably in the conventions of modern politics.
Biden’s broader message was conciliatory yet challenging, as he called on 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 that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” Biden said. “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” or “uniting” 11 times, saying that he knew it “can sound to some like a foolish fantasy” but insisting that Americans had emerged from previous moments of discord and could 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.”
A historic moment but also a surreal one. Unlike most inaugurals suffused with joy and a sense of new beginning, the nation’s 59th inauguration on a chilly but sunny day served to illustrate America’s troubles. Amid fear of further violence, Washington was transformed into an armed camp, with 25,000 National Guard troops joining thousands of police officers in blocking off a wide section of downtown.
With the pandemic still raging and the death toll topping 400,000, 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. Biden and most of the participants wore masks through most of the activities.
Many inaugural customs were scrapped because of the virus, including a lunch with congressional leaders
in Statuary Hall, a fullscale parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the gala evening balls where the new president and his wife typically dance.
Instead, Biden reviewed military units at the Capitol and later proceeded to the White House escorted by military marching bands as well as drum lines from the University of Delaware and Howard University, the alma maters of the new president and vice president.
Still, one tradition that went forward left an impression. Amanda Gorman, 22, a self-described “skinny Black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother,” became the youngest inaugural poet in American history and drew raves for her powerful words:
“Somehow, we’ve weathered and witnessed
“A nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.”
In characteristic fashion, Trump defied custom by leaving Washington hours before the swearing-in, although Mike Pence, his
vice president, did attend. In remarks to supporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump still could not bring himself to mention Biden’s name but said, “I wish the new administration great luck and great success.” He did leave the traditional note for his successor, which Biden later called “a very generous letter.”
Biden expressed no regret about Trump’s absence but sought to project common cause with Republican as well as Democratic leaders in the Capitol in a chummy gathering after the ceremony with none of the animus that characterized Trump’s era. Biden even tried to persuade them to still call him Joe.
“No, Joe,” Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., the majority leader, corrected him. “You’re ‘Mr. President.’ ”
“He makes me call him that, too,” Jill Biden joked.
“Marriage is about to get rocky, I can tell,” Hoyer laughed.
Then, in a laying on of hands of sorts by the world’s most exclusive club — a club that never accepted
Trump, who likewise shunned them — three former presidents from both parties, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, joined Biden in placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. (Jimmy Carter, at 96, was unable to attend, but spoke with Biden by phone Tuesday night.)
If the pomp and circumstance were constrained by the challenges of the day, Biden’s determination to get off to a fast start unraveling the Trump presidency was not. He signed 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations aimed at reversing major elements of the last administration, a significant repudiation of his predecessor and a more expansive set of Inauguration Day actions than any in modern history.
Commanding attention in Congress will be a challenge, with Trump’s trial most likely consuming the Senate for days or weeks. As it stands, the Senate confirmed only one of Biden’s nominees on Inauguration
Day, Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, another breach of custom. Trump had two of his Cabinet secretaries confirmed on the day he took office, while Obama and Bush each had seven.
With Harris’ inauguration and the swearing-in of two new senators later in the day, the Senate, evenly divided with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, flipped to the Democrats thanks to her tiebreaking vote as the chamber’s president. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., became the majority leader and hoped to create two parallel tracks so the Senate could consider nominations and legislation even as it conducted the Trump trial.
But some Republicans signaled resistance, or at least skepticism. “I hope that the words can be transmitted into action, and we’ll have an opportunity with the COVID package and other things to see how much bipartisanship we can actually have,” said Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. “Let’s hope that the spirit of the moment translates into real action.”
Biden began working on his inaugural address before Thanksgiving in a process run by his longtime adviser Mike Donilon. He received help from Jon Meacham, the historian who is serving as an informal outside adviser, as well as from Vinay Reddy, his speechwriter, while also relying on his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, who has long been an important sounding board.
He was particularly determined to call out the forces of “political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism,” as he put it, implicitly faulting Trump’s relentless bid to overturn the election with false accusations of widespread fraud — baseless claims that fueled the mob that ransacked the Capitol.
“Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson,” Biden said. “There is truth and there are lies, lies told for power and for profit, and each of us has a duty and a responsibility as citizens, as Americans and especially as leaders, leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation, to defend the truth and defeat the lies.”