‘End This Uncivil War’: Joe Biden Takes Oath Of Office With Towering Challenges Ahead

By Laura Olson Ariana Figueroa, the Missouri Independent

January 20 2021

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has become the 46th president of the United States, taking the oath of office while standing on the same platform where insurrectionists swarmed just two weeks ago as they sought to prevent Congress from certifying his victory.

“This is America’s day,” Biden said as he began his Inaugural Address. “This is democracy’s day.”

That violent mob of rioters damaged the U.S. Capitol, attacked police officers, and sparked security concerns ahead of Wednesday’s transition of presidential power. But the traditional outdoor ceremony carried on, albeit with a much more limited audience than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic and security fears.

Instead of looking out at a sea of supporters, the former vice president and longtime senator from Delaware spoke before members of Congress seated in socially distanced chairs, a massive force of National Guard members, and a display of flags stretching to the Washington Monument representing those who fell victim to COVID-19 and cannot be there in person.

Vice President Mike Pence was in attendance, but for the first time since 1869, the departing president will not watch as his successor takes the oath.

President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, left the White House hours ahead of Biden’s swearing-in ceremony, with Marine One flying past the Capitol as it ferried him to his flight home to Florida.

Amid that bleak backdrop, there was an historic first: Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president, becoming the country’s first woman, and first Black and South Asian woman, to hold that role.

Harris will become the tie-breaking vote in a Senate that will be evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans when two new senators from Georgia and one from California are sworn in Wednesday afternoon.

“Here we stand, looking out on the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream,” Biden said. “Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. And today we mark the swearing in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me things can’t change.”

The challenge before Biden and Harris is a stark one: healing a country that’s economically strained, rampaged by an unchecked virus, and facing ever-deepening political divisions.

“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” he said. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”

Trump, speaking to a small group of supporters before his final ride on Air Force One, thanked supporters and touted his administration’s accomplishments before wishing “the new administration great luck and great success.”

As Trump exited Washington, Biden headed to a church service with top congressional leaders from both political parties.

He is expected to immediately embark on his policy agenda, with plans to sign more than a dozen executive orders and other directives Wednesday afternoon.

Those orders will require mask-wearing on federal property, and extend pandemic-spurred protections against evictions and foreclosures, and a pause on student loan interest and payments.

Biden also will begin to undo Trump’s immigration actions, reversing his ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries; halting construction of the border wall; bolstering the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; and ending the enhanced immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

He also will have the U.S. rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, and begin reviewing the Trump administration’s rollbacks to environmental regulations.

As a precaution, more than 25,000 National Guard members are stationed around the Capitol and throughout D.C., a number that grew dramatically following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob of pro-Trump supporters. Lawmakers, staffers and journalists had to barricade themselves for hours until law enforcement officers were able to secure the building.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, told reporters Tuesday that he felt good about the security plans in place for Wednesday’s ceremony. He added that four years ago, when he held the same ceremonial role, the best moment for him was “when everybody got back inside.”

“It’s clearly always a moment of, where our government is at its most vulnerable,” Blunt said, “but also an important moment where we project our strength as a democracy.”

The Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy. It is staffed by veteran Missouri reporters and is dedicated to its mission of relentless investigative journalism that sheds light on how decisions in Jefferson City are made and their impact on individuals across the Show-Me State.