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Kamala
Harris
is sworn
in as
vice
president
by
Supreme
Court
Justice
Sonia
Sotomayor
as her
husband
Doug
Emhoff
holds
the
Bible
during
the 59th
Presidential
Inauguration
at the
U.S.
Capitol
in
Washington,
Wednesday,
Jan. 20,
2021.
(AP
Photo/Patrick
Semansky,
Pool)
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Biden
takes
the helm
as
president:
'Democracy
has
prevailed'
By
JONATHAN
LEMIRE,
ZEKE
MILLER
and
ALEXANDRA
JAFFE
apnews.com
WASHINGTON
- Joe
Biden
was
sworn in
as the
46th
president
of the
United
States
on
Wednesday,
summoning
American
resilience
to
confront
a
historic
confluence
of
crises
and
urging
people
to come
together
to end
an
“uncivil
war” in
a nation
deeply
divided
after
four
tumultuous
years
Declaring
that
“democracy
has
prevailed,”
Biden
took the
oath at
a U.S.
Capitol
that had
been
battered
by an
insurrectionist
siege
just two
weeks
earlier.
On a
chill
Washington
morning
dotted
with
snow
flurries,
the
quadrennial
ceremony
unfolded
within a
circle
of
security
forces
evocative
of a war
zone and
devoid
of
crowds
because
of the
coronavirus
pandemic.
Instead,
Biden
gazed
out over
200,000
American
flags
planted
on the
National
Mall to
symbolize
those
who
could
not
attend
in
person.
“The
will of
the
people
has been
heard,
and the
will of
the
people
has been
heeded.
We’ve
learned
again
that
democracy
is
precious
and
democracy
is
fragile.
At this
hour, my
friends,
democracy
has
prevailed,”
Biden
said.
“This is
America’s
day.
This is
democracy’s
day. A
day in
history
and
hope, of
renewal
and
resolve.”
Biden
never
mentioned
his
predecessor,
who
defied
tradition
and left
town
ahead of
the
ceremony,
but his
speech
was an
implicit
rebuke
of
Donald
Trump.
The new
president
denounced
“lies
told for
power
and for
profit”
and was
blunt
about
the
challenges
ahead.
ratio
Youtube
video
thumbnail
Central
among
them:
the
surging
virus
that has
claimed
more
than
400,000
lives in
the
United
States,
as well
as
economic
strains
and a
national
reckoning
over
race.
“We
have
much to
do in
this
winter
of
peril,
and
significant
possibilities.
Much to
repair,
much to
restore,
much to
heal,
much to
build
and much
to
gain,”
Biden
said.
“Few
people
in our
nation’s
history
have
been
more
challenged,
or found
a time
more
challenging
or
difficult
than the
time
we’re in
now.”
Biden
was
eager to
go big
early,
with an
ambitious
first
100 days
that
includes
a push
to speed
up the
distribution
of
COVID-19
vaccinations
to
anxious
Americans
and pass
a $1.9
trillion
virus
relief
package.
On Day
One, he
planned
a series
of
executive
actions
to roll
back
Trump
administration
initiatives
and also
planned
to send
an
immigration
proposal
to
Capitol
Hill
that
would
create
an
eight-year
path to
citizenship
for
immigrants
living
in the
country
illegally.
The
absence
of
Biden’s
predecessor
from the
inaugural
ceremony,
a break
from
tradition,
underscored
the rift
to be
healed.
But
a
bipartisan
trio of
three
former
presidents
— Bill
Clinton,
George
W. Bush
and
Barack
Obama —
were
there to
witness
the
ceremonial
transfer
of
power.
Trump,
awaiting
his
second
impeachment
trial,
was at
his
Florida
resort
by the
time the
swearing-in
took
place.
Biden,
in his
third
run for
the
presidency,
staked
his
candidacy
less on
any
distinctive
political
ideology
than on
galvanizing
a broad
coalition
of
voters
around
the
notion
that
Trump
posed an
existential
threat
to
American
democracy.
Biden
did not
mention
Trump by
name but
alluded
to the
rifts
his
predecessor
had
helped
create.
“I
know the
forces
that
divide
us are
deep and
they are
real.
But I
also
know
they are
not new.
Our
history
has been
a
constant
struggle
between
the
American
ideal
that we
all are
created
equal
and the
harsh,
ugly
reality
of
racism,
nativism,
fear,
demonization
that
have
long
torn us
apart,”
Biden
said.
“This is
our
historic
moment
of
crisis
and
challenge,
and
unity is
the path
forward
and we
must
meet
this
moment
as the
United
States
of
America.”
Biden
came to
office
with a
well of
empathy
and
resolve
born by
personal
tragedy
as well
as a
depth of
experience
forged
from
more
than
four
decades
in
Washington.
At age
78, he
was the
oldest
president
inaugurated.
More
history
was made
at his
side, as
Kamala
Harris
became
the
first
woman to
be vice
president.
The
former
U.S.
senator
from
California
is also
the
first
Black
person
and the
first
person
of South
Asian
descent
elected
to the
vice
presidency
and the
highest-ranking
woman
ever to
serve in
government.
The
two were
sworn in
during
an
inauguration
ceremony
with few
parallels.
Tens of
thousands
of
troops
were on
the
streets
to
provide
security
precisely
two
weeks
after a
violent
mob of
Trump
supporters,
incited
by the
Republican
president,
stormed
the
Capitol
in an
attempt
to
prevent
the
certification
of
Biden’s
victory.
“Here we
stand,
just
days
after a
riotous
mob
thought
they
could
use
violence
to
silence
the will
of the
people,”
Biden
said.
“To stop
the work
of our
democracy.
To drive
us from
this
sacred
ground.
It did
not
happen.
It will
never
happen.
Not
today,
not
tomorrow.
Not
ever.
Not
ever.”
The
tense
atmosphere
evoked
the 1861
inauguration
of
Lincoln,
who was
secretly
transported
to
Washington
to avoid
assassins
on the
eve of
the
Civil
War, or
Roosevelt’s
inaugural
in 1945,
when he
opted
for a
small,
secure
ceremony
at the
White
House in
the
waning
months
of World
War II.
But
Washington,
all but
deserted
downtown
and in
its
federal
areas,
was
quiet.
And calm
also
prevailed
outside
heavily
fortified
state
Capitol
buildings
across
nation
after
the FBI
had
warned
of the
possibility
for
armed
demonstrations
leading
up to
the
inauguration.
The
day
began
with a
reach
across
the
political
aisle
after
four
years of
bitter
partisan
battles
under
Trump.
At
Biden’s
invitation,
congressional
leaders
from
both
parties
bowed
their
heads in
prayer
in the
socially
distanced
service
just a
few
blocks
from the
White
House.
Biden
was
sworn in
by Chief
Justice
John
Roberts;
Harris
by
Justice
Sonia
Sotomayor,
the
first
Latina
member
of the
Supreme
Court.
Vice
President
Mike
Pence,
standing
in for
Trump,
sat
nearby
as Lady
Gaga,
holding
a golden
microphone,
sang the
National
Anthem
accompanied
by the
U.S.
Marine
Corps
band.
When
Pence,
in a
last act
of the
outgoing
administration,
left the
Capitol,
he
walked
through
a door
with
badly
cracked
glass
from the
riot two
weeks
ago.
Later,
Biden,
Harris
and
their
spouses
were
joined
by the
former
presidents
to lay a
wreath
at the
Tomb of
the
Unknown
Soldier
at
Arlington
National
Ceremony.
Biden
was also
to join
the end
of a
slimmed-down
inaugural
parade
as he
moves
into the
White
House.
Because
of the
pandemic,
much of
this
year’s
parade
was to
be a
virtual
affair
featuring
performances
from
around
the
nation.
In
the
evening,
in lieu
of the
traditional
glitzy
balls
that
welcome
a new
president
to
Washington,
Biden
will
take
part in
a
televised
concert
that
also
marks
the
return
of
A-list
celebrities
to the
White
House
orbit
after
they
largely
eschewed
Trump.
Among
those in
the
lineup:
Bruce
Springsteen,
Justin
Timberlake
and
Lin-Manuel
Miranda.
This
was not
an
inauguration
for the
crowds.
But
Americans
in the
capital
city
nonetheless
brought
their
hopes to
the
moment.
“I
feel so
hopeful,
so
thankful,”
said
Karen
Jennings
Crooms,
a D.C.
resident
who
hoped to
catch a
glimpse
of the
presidential
motorcade
on
Pennsylvania
Avenue
with her
husband.
“It
makes us
sad that
this is
where we
are but
hopeful
that
democracy
will win
out in
the end.
That’s
what I’m
focusing
on.”
Trump
was the
first
president
in more
than a
century
to skip
the
inauguration
of his
successor.
After a
brief
farewell
celebration
at
nearby
Joint
Base
Andrews,
he
boarded
Air
Force
One for
the
final
time as
president.
“I
will
always
fight
for you.
I will
be
watching.
I will
be
listening
and I
will
tell you
that the
future
of this
country
has
never
been
better,”
said
Trump.
He
wished
the
incoming
administration
well but
never
mentioned
Biden’s
name.
The
symbolism
was
striking:
The very
moment
Trump
disappeared
into the
doorway
of Air
Force
One,
Biden
emerged
from
Blair
House,
the
traditional
guest
lodging
for
presidents-in-waiting,
and into
his
motorcade
for the
short
ride to
church.
Trump
did
adhere
to one
tradition
and left
a
personal
note for
Biden in
the Oval
Office,
according
to the
White
House,
which
did not
release
its
contents.
And
Trump,
in his
farewell
remarks,
hinted
at a
political
return,
saying
“we will
be back
in some
form.”
Without
question,
he will
shadow
Biden’s
first
days in
office.
Trump’s
second
impeachment
trial
could
start as
early as
this
week.
That
could
test the
ability
of the
Senate,
poised
to come
under
Democratic
control,
to
balance
impeachment
proceedings
with
confirmation
hearings
and
votes on
Biden’s
Cabinet
choices.
Biden
planned
a 10-day
blitz of
executive
orders
on
matters
that
don’t
require
congressional
approval
— a mix
of
substantive
and
symbolic
steps to
unwind
the
Trump
years.
Among
the
planned
steps:
rescinding
travel
restrictions
on
people
from
several
predominantly
Muslim
countries;
rejoining
the
Paris
climate
accord;
issuing
a mask
mandate
for
those on
federal
property;
and
ordering
agencies
to
figure
out how
to
reunite
children
separated
from
their
families
after
crossing
the
border.
___
Additional
reporting
by
Associated
Press
writers
Jill
Colvin
and
Darlene
Superville
in
Washington
and
Michelle
L. Price
in Las
Vegas.
___
Follow
Lemire
on
Twitter
at
http://twitter.com/@JonLemire.
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