Biden takes the helm as president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
By JONATHAN LEMIRE, ZEKE MILLER and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has sworn the oath of office to become the 46th president of the United States, declaring that “democracy has prevailed.”
He takes the helm of a deeply divided nation and will inherit a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. But there were comforting signs of tradition for the hallowed American democratic rite now underway at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago.
On a chilly Washington day dotted with snow flurries, a bipartisan trio of ex-presidents along with the elite of nation’s government gathered for the ceremony.