Seventy-eight year old, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. on Wednesday took the oath of office as the 46th President of the United States of America and declared that he will be a President for all Americans urging his fellow citizens to “end the uncivil war”

Biden swore the oath of office to take assume leadership of a deeply divided nation, inheriting a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. But, the President declared confidently that it was a new day in America.

In his inaugural speech, President Biden extolled the beauty of America’s democracy saying: “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”.

To demonstrate that he wants to hit the ground running, President Biden said “there is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face. That’s why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families”.

The ceremony which was modest in attendance because of the pandemic and security concerns was attended by a bipartisan trio of ex-presidents along with the elite of nation’s government who gathered, ensuring the quadrennial ceremony persevered.

The occasion also witnessed the swearing in of Kamala Harris as Vice President, the first woman, first black and Asian-American to attain the high office.
President Biden pledged to “restore the soul and secure the future of America” This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day: A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve.”

With his hand on a five-inch-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Mr. Biden recited the 35-word oath of office swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., completing the process at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changes hands.

The ritual transfer of power came shortly after Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in as vice president by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her hand on a Bible that once belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Ms. Harris’s ascension made her the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second highest office.

President Biden’s speech acknowledged the task ahead: “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; to overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”

Mr. Biden’s plea for the country to come together echoed a defining theme of his presidential campaign, a message that has only taken on greater urgency in recent weeks.

“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.

“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path,” he said. “Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”

The ceremony on a chilly, breezy day with a smattering of snowflakes brought to a close the stormy and divisive four-year presidency of Mr. Trump. In characteristic fashion, Mr. Trump once again defied tradition by leaving Washington hours before the swearing in of his successor rather than face the reality of his own election defeat, although Mike Pence, his vice president, did attend.