Joseph R Biden or popularly known as Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States of America, was sworn in at a modest inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2021 held on the Capitol grounds that was invaded by Trump supporters two weeks ago. . At 78, he is the country’s oldest president to be sworn in: yet his arrival at this time is seen by many as momentous and much needed in light of the aftermath of Trumpism.
Not surprisingly, considering the bitter division in American society, President Biden advocated national unity and an end to uncivil war with the motto “avoid division, embrace unity.” He explained that ‘unity’ is required in view of the overriding need, which he called ‘a desperate call for survival from planet earth itself’, to counter the challenges of rising political extremism, white supremacist racism, domestic terrorism and the pandemic that caused more damage in one year than all of World War II did to the United States. He declared that he was the president of all Americans, including those who did not support him or still do not support him. The President said, ‘democracy is precious, democracy is fragile’, but he went on to say optimistically that ‘today is democracy day’ and that ‘democracy has prevailed’. There was much to heal and more to build, he pleaded.
The event was not attended by outgoing President Donald Trump as announced a few days ago, he became the fourth president to do so in US presidential history and the first to do so in the last more than one hundred and fifty years. However, Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, did attend the ceremony and, significantly, was not present when Trump delivered his valedictorian address at an air force base before boarding Airforce-1 to fly back to Florida. Trump has also earned the unique distinction of becoming the first US president to be impeached twice in the US House of Representatives. With Democrats establishing a presence in the Senate, his next moves to permanently depriving Trump of all post-presidential privileges would be watched closely.
Previously, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, becoming the first female Vice President, the first Black person to ascend to this position, and the first person of Asian (Indian) origin to assume this privileged position in the country. . The people of her original village in Tamil Nadu, India, celebrated this great occasion by praying in temples and distributing sweets at large gatherings. However, Kamala Harris, who is a liberal Democrat, is unlikely to take her Indian origins seriously and mingle with the people as well as some of the country’s most aggressive Hindu nationalist governments. More good news is coming in the wake of the rise of Kamala Harris, in terms of appointing more than 20 Indian Americans to the Biden Administration, of which 17 are in key positions. Indeed, Biden had already fortified his COVID-19 team with quite a few Indian Americans who had the experience, and his call to ‘put politics aside, fight the pandemic’ bodes well for the future of a country where about four hundred thousand people have lost their lives so far due to coronavirus infections.
President Joe Biden’s mission right now is clearly to end Trump’s legacy as quickly as possible and, as he said in his speech, to begin engaging with the world for peace and democracy. To lead by example, the president took action from the first day of his term. He signed some 15 executive orders reversing some of the crucial foreign policy and national security decisions made by his predecessor Trump. These orders include, significantly, the rejoining of the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change, the reversal of the country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, the mandatory use of masks and the rescission of the imposed travel ban. to visitors from various Muslim-majority countries.
The President of the Democrats, basically the cynicism of all democratic-minded people in the world, had said in his inaugural address: “Together we will write an American history of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, of light, not of darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love, healing and kindness.’ We hope that Joe Biden succeeds in his mission to make democracy secure and permanent in his country and on planet earth. We also hope that this American story inspire many in several of the world’s leading countries where democracy has been under serious and growing threat.
