WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: President Joe Biden speaks during the the 59th inaugural ceremony on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today’s inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States. Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images/AFP
By: Thomas I Likness
EBC News Service
WASHINGTON, D-C (Eagle News Service) – Under overcast skies in the American capital, Joe Biden, took his oath of office Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States.
Moments before, in a historic moment in Washington, D-C, Kamala Harris became the first woman and the first woman of color to be sworn in as the country’s vice-president.
“This is America’s day, this is democracy’s day,” said Biden in his inaugural address which focused on uniting the country.
“I know the forces that divide are deep and are real, but I also know they are not new,” he said. “The battle is perennial and victory is never assured.”
Biden said it’s time for people to set their differences aside.
“We must end this uncivil war that pits Red against Blue,” he said. “Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.”
“Without unity there is not peace, only bitterness,” he added.
Biden pledged to be a president to all Americans, even those who did not support him and had a message for them.
“Take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it — that’s democracy,” he said to those who did not vote for him.
In his 20 minute speech, Biden also took aim at issues such as racism and conspiracy theories which are dividing the country.
“We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured,” he said.
Biden called upon guests at the inauguration to join him a moment of silent prayer to remember the more than 400,000 people who lost their lives to the pandemic.
Three former living presidents attended the inauguration.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attended the inauguration. Former President Jimmy Carter, who is 96, was unable to attend.
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump declined to attend, although former Vice-president Mike Pence was there.
Unlike previous inauguration, the area around Capitol Hill looked like a ghost town.
Security was tight with 20,000 National Guard troops and other law enforcement agencies watching over the event and keeping spectators away.
(Eagle News Service)