Print Associated Press and National Desk
Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.
Biden s inauguration came at a time of national tumult and uncertainty, a ceremony of resilience as the hallowed American democratic rite unfurled at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago. The chilly Washington morning was dotted with snow flurries, but the sun emerged just before Biden took the oath of office, the quadrennial ceremony persevering even though it was encircled by security forces evocative of a war zone and devoid of crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Evening Briefing Special Edition: Biden Takes Office
Here’s what you need to know at the end of Inauguration Day.
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Number 46.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. became the 46th president of the United States, promising to move the nation forward on a path of unity.
“Democracy has prevailed,” President Biden said during a sober, no-surprises inaugural event. At 78, he is the oldest president in the country’s history.
Mr. Biden urged Americans to put aside the bitter divisions that have deepened over the past four years, and to come together to confront a cascade of crises, including the pandemic.
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By: The Rainbow Times’ Editorial Team
A few minutes before noon, former VP Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. and former Senator Kamala Harris were sworn in on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Biden and Harris are now the U.S.’ new President and Vice-President, respectively.
A little over two centuries after John Adams became the nation’s first vice president, Kamala Harris made history as she became the first African American woman, and the first woman of South Asian descent that has ever been sworn into such a high-profile position in the country and it was Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first female Justice of Latinx descent to serve on the Supreme Court, who administered the oath.