Biden assumes US presidency with a rousing call to unity

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr took office on Wednesday as the 46th US president, calling for an “end (to) this uncivil war” in a rousing speech that was aimed at uniting a country bitterly divided by his predecessor Donald Trump, and help it overcome challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic, distrust of each other, and “a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, and even manufactured”.

On a cold and blustery morning on the US Capitol, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice-President before Biden, marking a series of firsts that will secure her a unique place in American history as the first woman, African American and American of Indian, South Asian and Asian descent ever elected to the high office that will put her just a heartbeat away from the presidency. She was administered the oath by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court justice.

“Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause; the cause of democracy, the people, the will of the people, has been heard,” Biden said after being sworn into office by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. “On this hallowed ground just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation. We come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power. As we have for more than two centuries.”

The president said, “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, and conservative versus liberal. We can do this. If we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and you really need. And if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes as my mom would say just for a moment. Stand in their shoes.”

In a message to the world, President Biden said: “America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it.”

He promised to “repair our alliances” and engage with the world once again, not to face yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges”.

Biden’s inauguration was nothing like any before. It took place amid unprecedented security with more than 25,000 National Guard troops deployed all around the US Capitol and the White House, with military vehicles, tall wire fences and concrete blocks turning downtown Washington DC into a fortress, in anticipation of “armed protests by pro-Trump supporters who had on January 6 stormed the US Capitol, fired up by Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

The Trumps did not attend the inauguration. They were on their way to their adoptive home state of Florida before the ceremony got underway. Former presidents and first ladies Barack Obama and Michelle Obama , George W Bush and Laura Bush and Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton attended the event. Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter did not attend, as they are staying away from public events in recent months because of their advance age and Covid-19. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney were also invited but were unable to attend on their doctors’ advice.

Trump and Melania Trump took their last ride out of White House on Marne One, the presidential helicopter, at 8:00 am local time as scheduled, not honouring a long-running transfer-of-power ritual of welcoming their successors, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Trump did leave a note for Biden on the Resolute Desk, respecting one part of the ritual at least.

In a farewell speech at a military base outside Washington DC, Trump spoke of his achievements and boasted of his 75 million votes in an election he lost convincingly to Biden, by 232-306 in electoral college votes and 7 million in popular votes, which he has refused to acknowledge.

“I will be watching; I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better,” Trump said to a modestly attended event, skipped by most Republicans leaders, including Vice-President Pence, who were mostly all at Biden’s inauguration.

“I wish the new administration, great luck and great success. I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular. And again, we put it in a position like it’s never been before.”

“We love you,” he said in conclusion. “We will be back in some form.”

But the power capital was already coming together, with one of the most divisive US presidents out of the way. Congressional Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy joined Biden and Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer and at a prayer service before the inauguration, and then attended the swearing-in. Vice-President Mike Pence attended the inauguration as well as did Ted Cruz, one of the leading Republican senators to challenge Biden’s election.

Biden will get down to work right away, and is expected to sign around a dozen executive orders, which his chief of staff Ronald Klain has said, return the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change and rescind a travel ban on nationals from certain Muslim-majority countries, reversing some of Trump most controversial orders.

Biden will also issue an order mandating masks on federal property and interstate transport, in what has been called a “100 Day Mask Challenge”.

Biden arrived from Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday, and headed to a solemn memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for those who died in the Covid-19 pandemic. “To heal, we must remember. And it is hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal,” Biden said in brief remarks, adding, “It is important to do that as a nation.”

“Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness along this sacred pool of reflection and remember all who we have lost,” he said.

The Biden inauguration committee, which organised the memorial, installed 400 lights around the pool, each representing 1,000 Covid-19 deaths. They were lit as Biden and Harris spoke.

Iconic buildings outside Washington DC, such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Space Needle in Seattle were illuminated similarly as were others across the country.

At a brief event in Wilmington, Delaware, before starting for Washington DC, the president-elect got emotional speaking about his journey so far and his eldest son Beau Biden who died of brain cancer in 2015.