On Jan. 20, for the first time in history, the 46th president of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr., took the oath of office as the American public watched through screens. In place of their absence, 200,000 flags stood on the field representing the people who were unable to attend this inauguration.

Because of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, streets were barricaded to block any existential threat, military vehicles stood conspicuous, and around 25,000 National Guard troops flooded Capitol grounds for additional protection. Strict testing and social distancing requirements were a necessity to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and to ensure guests of the ceremony were kept safe.

After attending a mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthews the Apostle in Washington, D.C. before the inauguration began, the incoming administration arrived at the Capitol around 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their families were warmly greeted by Senators Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, and Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota. The 45th U.S. president, Donald Trump, boycotted his successor’s inauguration, making Trump only the fourth president to take absence for the first time in more than 150 years. Meanwhile, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton attended the ceremony to witness this unprecedented inauguration, all sending out bipartisan messages of support. 

The two Democrats, Obama and Clinton, and one Republican, Bush, expressed their commitment to America’s democracy, reflecting Biden’s campaign motif of unity through this long era of turmoil. “Everyone needs to get off their high horses and reach out to their friends and neighbors and try to make it possible,” Clinton said.

With Joe Biden becoming the second Catholic president in U.S. history, the inauguration program began with an invocation from Father Leo J. O’Donovan, a former Georgetown University president.

Soon, the inauguration was filled with performances as Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and Garth Brooks sang the national anthem and Brooks sang “Amazing Grace.” Following them, 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, delivered her powerful poem “The Hill We Climb.” 

Gorman spoke passionately about the need for social change in America and told the people to “leave behind a country better than the one we were left.”

“We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man,” Gorman said in her poem. “And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all.”

Moments later, beginning at 11:47 a.m., Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in, becoming the first woman to hold the second highest U.S. office. Being the daughter of two immigrant parents, with her mother coming to the U.S. from India and her father from Jamaica, Harris also made history as the first Black American and the first South Asian U.S. Vice President. 

Following Harris, President Biden took the oath on the same grounds where the attempted coup d’etat had rocked the Capitol, to show the world and the American public that democracy endures even in light of the most strident attempts to upend it. Biden delivered a speech that encapsulated the need for unity and the victory of democracy. He promised to serve those who voted for him and those who did not, saying he was there for all Americans. The 46th president spoke of getting people out of unemployment, safer schools, overcoming the virus, rewarding work, rebuilding the middle class and making healthcare “secure for all.” In the wake of the Capitol riot, soaring coronavirus deaths, and a divided nation, the new president vowed to bring unity to the country.

The 46th president proclaimed to the American people, “Democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. In this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

Ultimately, the inauguration program concluded with a benediction by Rev. Silvester Beaman, a pastor from Delaware and ally of Biden’s late son Beau Biden. 

“As a nation and people of faith gathered in this historical moment, let us unite in prayer,” Beaman said.

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