January 20, Joe Biden was officially sworn in as the 46th president of the United States under the chairmanship of Chief Justice John Roberts.
Kamala Harris has also been sworn in as the first African-American and Asian female vice president in American history.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump officially became the former president of the United States.
The United States officially opens the Biden era
Biden’s swearing-in ceremony was presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and his wife Jill Biden held the Bible for him, according to CNN.
At 78, Biden is the oldest president in American history when he was sworn in.
After taking the oath of office, Biden delivered an inaugural speech, highlighting unity and healing.
Pointing out the problems facing the United States, including epidemic problems, racial issues, white supremacy, social division, etc., he said that the United States “has a long way to go in repairing, healing, building and harvesting”.
He promised to be “the president of all Americans” and would devote “the whole soul to bringing America together”.
Zhu Zhiqun, professor of international relations at Bucknell University in the United States, told the Beijing News that Biden’s whole speech was relatively simple, but the focus was still relatively prominent, that is, to solve domestic problems and emphasize unity and healing.” Biden’s speech speaks directly to his governance priorities, namely, domestic issues, including controlling the pandemic, restoring the economy, and racial unity.
He briefly mentioned the diplomatic aspect, that is, to restore the leadership of the United States in the world.
Zhang Jun, an American legal scholar and lawyer, also said that although today’s inauguration ceremony was held in the shadow of the epidemic and the Capitol Hill riots, the scale was reduced and the duration was shortened, but on the whole, it was very smooth.” At the heart of Biden’s inaugural address was unity, because he himself knew that despite his election with 80 million votes, American society was still divided, so he repeatedly emphasized unity, emphasis on healing, and emphasis on being a united United States of America.”
The first African, Asian, and female vice president in American history
On the morning of January 20, Kamala Harris was sworn in, becoming the first African-American and Asian vice president in American history.
According to CNN, Harris’ swearing-in ceremony was presided over by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, the first Latino justice of the United States Supreme Court and the third female justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Harris is 56 years old. Her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican.
After his swearing-in, Harris became the first woman in American history, the first woman of color, the first black, and the first vice president of South Asian descent.
Her husband, Doug Emhoff, also became the first “second gentleman” in American history.
Inauguration of the new president whose predecessor is away
When Biden was sworn in, Trump had landed in Florida and officially became the former president of the United States.
After leaving the White House at 8 a.m. on January 20, he gave a brief farewell speech at the St. Andrews base, and then took a special plane to Palm Beach, Florida.
He also became the first president in the United States not to attend the inauguration of his successor president in more than 150 years.
Zhu Zhiqun said that Trump’s refusal to attend Biden’s inauguration was actually a very indespiring behavior, which also showed that he was still unwilling to accept defeat.
However, Zhu Zhiqun said that he noticed that after the inauguration ceremony, Harris and the Pences had a few words of talk and jokes, which showed Pence’s demeanor to some extent.
The first sunny presidential inauguration day in nearly 30 years
According to CNN, at noon local time on January 20, the temperature in Washington, D.C., USA, will reach 45 degrees Fahrenheit (about 7.2 degrees Celsius), and the weather is very sunny.
This is about the first sunny presidential inauguration day in nearly 30 years in the United States.
The last sunny inauguration day was the inauguration day of former President Clinton’s first term, that is, January 20, 1993.
When Trump took office on January 20, 2017, it rained lightly during the inauguration.
Obama’s inauguration day in 2013 was cloudy, and inauguration day in 2009 was also basically cloudy.
The national flag replaces the people for the inauguration ceremony.
At the inauguration of the president in the past, thousands of new presidential supporters usually rushed from all over the country to Washington National Mall to witness this important moment.
But due to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, and out of fears about violent disturbances, Biden’s inauguration ceremony was attended by a small number of people, only about 1,000 people.
Conversely, the National Plaza of the United States is full of American flags. According to CNN, Biden’s inaugural committee has put 200,000 small flags in 56 states and territories across the country.
Biden has many challenges in opening his term.
Biden officially took office, but the challenges are not many.
Especially the first 100 days of his presidency are crucial to his whole term.
Zhang Jun believes that Biden should do whatever he can take in his power in his first 100 days. For example, in the context of the epidemic, the order to wear masks in federal government buildings and call on all people to wear masks.
He also promised to get 100 million Americans a coronavirus vaccine in the next 100 days, and if the epidemic can really be achieved, it may be reversed soon.
Zhu Zhiqun also believes that Biden’s first challenge at the beginning of his office was to deal with the epidemic, which, if he does not achieve results quickly, it is likely to hit his reputation.
In addition to the pandemic, Biden may issue some executive orders to cancel some of the policies Trump has previously issued.
He also promised to return to WHO, to the Paris Agreement, etc., so he will do something diplomatically.
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