By KEMI KASUMU with agency reports
After four years of Donald Trump’s controversial presidency filled with hates and leadership guided by misinformation thereby heightening tensions across democracy world particularly Africa, Mr. Joe Biden has taken the oath of office as substantive President of the western nation.
Elected in the 5 November 2020 election along his running late, Kamala Harris, Biden’s swearing-in at his inauguration on Wednesday 20 January 2021 kicks off a new era in Washington.
Remarkably, Kamala Harris will become the first woman and the first woman of color to serve as vice president.
President Joe Biden had planned to sign executive orders later on Wednesday after the swearing-in to undo some policies of the Trump administration.
Notably also as the event rode unto a start, Eugene Goodman, a Capitol Police officer, who diverted the mob during the last riot allegedly incited by Trump, was seen escorting Harris.
Biden and Harris took their oaths in an inauguration like no other. Kamala Harris being sworn in as vice president has been described as a barrier-breaking moment in U.S. history.
On Day one, Biden will wield executive authority to undo Trump’s legacy as Trump departed the White House for the last time, and was said to leave a note for Biden.
Biden took the oath of an office he has sought for more than 30 years, but there was no crowd filling the National Mall to celebrate the moment.
Instead, there was a sea of flags representing the people who could not be there because of the pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans, and the streets of Washington was filled with 25,000 National Guard troops deployed to prevent a repeat of the riot President Trump incited at the Capitol two weeks ago.
Mr. Trump had days before said the inauguration would be an inauguration the likes of which no one has seen before.
Mr. Biden and the vice president, Kamala Harris, began the day with a Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, after appearing Tuesday night at a vigil for the victims of the coronavirus. Armed soldiers encircled the stage where they were sworn in.
By 10:30 a.m., Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris had arrived at the Capitol, the latter accompanied by Officer Eugene Goodman of the Capitol Police, who has been praised for leading rioters away from the Senate chamber after they stormed the Capitol.
A steady stream of lawmakers and high-profile guests could also be seen arriving, including former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; the last Democratic presidential nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; the two top Democrats in Congress, Senator Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat likely to be the deciding vote on many of the new administration’s priorities; and Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, two of Mr. Biden’s challengers for the Democratic nomination last year.
Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was there too, as were the Senate’s three incoming members: Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, elected this month in Georgia, and Alex Padilla, who will replace Ms. Harris as the junior senator from California. Just before 11 a.m., six members of the Supreme Court arrived, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who will administer the oath of office to Ms. Harris, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who will administer it to Mr. Biden.
The soon-to-be senators posed for photos in front of the Capitol as their new colleagues elbow bumped them. Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, could be heard explaining to Mr. Ossoff that the seating arrangement in front of the Capitol steps was unusual, and that normally they would be overlooking the swearing-in.
Mr. Trump flew to Florida and did not attend, breaking from the tradition of almost every departing president in United States history. Vice President Mike Pence, who enraged Mr. Trump two weeks ago by following the Constitution and affirming Mr. Biden’s victory, was present as his own job was turned over to Harris.
“Have a good life,” Mr. Trump told supporters at Joint Base Andrews, discarding prepared remarks and ignoring advisers who thought he should have thanked Mr. Biden by name.
The inauguration ceremony itself featured a lineup of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks and, to sing the national anthem, Lady Gaga. Shortly before noon, Mr. Biden was sworn-in and delivered his Inaugural Address to a nation in crisis.
At noon, he finally became the 46th president of the United States.
As vice president, Kamala Harris will have the power to break ties in an evenly divided Senate.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times
