‘This is America’s day… democracy’s day’: Joe Biden takes oath as US president

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday. With his hand on the Bible that has been in his family for over 120 years, Biden took the 35-word oath of office promising to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

Biden, who has taken the office during the pandemic situation, promised to serve as the president for “all Americans”.

“This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope. Today we celebrate not just the triumph of a candidate but of a cause. The cause of democracy. The people and their will have been heard. We have learnt again that democracy is precious and fragile and at this hour democracy has prevailed,” the 78-year-old said in his inaugural speech.

Taking a dig at the former President Donald Trump, who refused to accept the election results calling the entire process a “fraud”, Biden said: “From now on this hallowed ground where just a few days ago violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation. We come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries. As we look ahead at our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic, and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.”

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After a tumultuous transition, including the storming of the Capitol by supporters of Trump, Biden said, “My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. I believe America is so much better than this.”

“We will defeat. To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, Unity. Unity. In another January on New Year’s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. He put pen to paper, the President said and I quote, ‘If my name ever goes down in history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it. My whole soul is in it.’ Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this. Ringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I asked every American to join me in this,” Biden said to the cheering crowd.

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Talking about Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman — and the first woman of colour — sworn into the office, he said: “Look around. Here we stand in the shadow of the Capitol dome, completed amid the Civil War when the union itself was hanging in the balance, yet we endured, we prevailed. Here we stand looking out at the Great Mall where Dr. (Martin Luther) King spoke of his dream. Here we stand where 108 years ago, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. Today we mark the first woman in history elected to national office, Vice-President Kamala Harris.”

“The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer,” he added.

The inauguration ceremony on a chilly breezy day brought to a close the stormy and divisive four-year presidency of Trump, who promised to be back in “some form” hours before the swearing in of his successor. Defying the tradition, Trump refused to attend the Inauguration Day and left Washington hours before the ceremony.

Biden, who is the oldest person to be sworn in as President, is likely to begin unwinding former President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration, climate and other issues with at least 15 executive actions on day 1 in the office.