Inauguration day Joe Biden sworn 46th president
Washington — Joseph R. Biden, Jr., sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, besiege with his wife Doctor Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"On this January day, my whole soul is in this. Bringing America together.” –@POTUS #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/JSh0hNA5ai
— Biden Inaugural Committee (@BidenInaugural) January 20, 2021
“This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day,” Mr. Biden said in his inaugural address. “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, and the will of the people has been heeded.”
Noting that he was being inaugurated on the Capitol steps just two weeks after it was stormed by a “riotous mob,” Mr. Biden said the country has been reminded that “democracy is precious, democracy is fragile, and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
In the hours after his address, the new president took action to target some of former President Donald Trump’s most controversial initiatives and bolster the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Seated behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, wearing a mask, Mr. Biden began signing a stack of executive orders and actions on immigration, climate change, COVID-19, racial equality and more.
Mr. Biden takes over at a time of tremendous upheaval and division, fueled both by his predecessor and the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans.
The inauguration ceremony earlier in the day was unlike any the country has ever seen, with a new president addressing an empty National Mall while thousands of National Guard troops stood watch over downtown Washington. The Mall was filled with thousands of small flags representing Americans who might otherwise have been in attendance, were it not for the pandemic.
After the swearing-in, Mr. Biden and Harris took part in modified pandemic-era versions of the ceremonial duties that traditionally surround the inauguration of a new president, accepting gifts from congressional leaders and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before participating in a short parade to the White House before a modest, mask-wearing crowded.
