Biden’s daunting task: How to heal fractured nation

The inauguration of this country’s next president should be a time of optimism and renewal, the seamless transfer of power that’s been a hallmark of our Republic for more than two centuries.

But these are unique, unchartered, discordant times.

Recent unnerving events and the ongoing rampage of a viral pandemic left our nation’s capital in lockdown mode. No overflowing, celebratory crowds or patriotic parades accompanied this signature event.

Our oldest elected leader, Joe Biden, 78, took the oath of office as this nation’s 46th president — along with Kamala Harris as its first female vice president — on the Capitol steps, the scene of that riotous mob’s breach of that hall of democracy just two weeks prior.

As the imagery of that infamous day both shocked and disgusted the vast majority of Americans, the visual symbolism of this swearing-in ceremony also pointed to our political divide.

President Donald Trump, for obvious reasons, didn’t attend his successor’s ascension, opting instead to leave Washington for his Mar a Lago estate in Palm Beach, thus becoming the first sitting president since 1869 to snub that ceremony.

That president, Andrew Johnson, shared another dubious distinction as the first president to be impeached — though not convicted.

So, what’s President Biden’s blueprint for reuniting this nation, considering that more than 74 million Americans voted for Trump?

He’ll of course need some help from congressional leaders of the opposition. Given that GOP Senate leader Mitch Mcconnell and his House counterpart Kevin Mccarthy both attended Catholic Mass with the Bidens Wednesday morning instead of participating in Trump’s farewell gives us some reason for hope.

With the Democrats’ slim margins in Congress — 221211 in the House and 50-50 in the Senate with the vice president as the tiebreaker — Biden will need to work with Republicans to advance his agenda. Our new president’s decades-long resumé as a U.S. senator and vice president should help his administration ease the political tensions that dominated Trump’s term in office.

For better or worse, in organization and execution, with Biden — an ultimate Washington insider — we’ll certainly see a more traditional presidency than the one we’ve experienced over the last four years.

That should help his administration ease the turbulence that dominated Trump’s term in office.

But these constitute more changes in style than substance. Biden must find the issues that unite — rather than separate — us a nation.

Some of those commonalities actually count as Trump accomplishments – a level trade playing field with China, Mideast countries’ rapprochement with Israel, taking on Big Pharma over excessive drug prices, a booming PRE-COVID and currently recovering economy, and the remarkable development of two effective coronavirus vaccines in nine months.

However, these uniting elements stand in contrast to the steps taken by Biden through executive decree just minutes into his term, including:

: Revoking the Keystone XL oil pipeline extension from Canada, which will sour relations with our northern neighbor;

: Rejoining the Paris climate accord;

: Halting construction of the border wall with Mexico;

: Repealing immigration enforcement orders that sought to withhold federal funds from cities that shielded undocumented, illegal immigrants.

: Strengthening protections for so-called Dreamers, and providing them an eight-year path to citizenship;

And perhaps the most divisive decision — not of Biden’s doing — Senate Democrats’ intention to hold a post-trump presidency impeachment trial, where the questionable legality of trying a private citizen will put a cloud over the proceedings.

These are the unity challenges a fledgling Biden administration faces before his first day in office expires.

In his inaugural address, the new president exhorted all Americans to put their differences aside and strive to make our fragile democracy a more equitable union for all Americans.

But will those disaffected by Trump’s defeat listen, and will they, as President Biden asked, agree amicably to disagree? We can only hope that the majority of Americans and their representatives in Washington truly want this nation — rather than a particular political ideology — to succeed.