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'Uncivil war must end': Democrat Joe Biden sworn in as 46th US president

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Democrat Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, vowing to end the “uncivil war” in a deeply divided country reeling from a battered economy and a raging coronavirus pandemic.

With his hand on a 12cm-thick heirloom Bible that has been in his family for more than a century, Biden took the oath of office administered by US Chief Justice John Roberts that binds the president to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States”.

“Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge,” Biden said in his inaugural address.

“Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy… At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

Mr Biden, 78, became the oldest US president in history at a scaled-back ceremony in Washington DC that was largely stripped of its usual pomp and circumstance, due both to the coronavirus and security concerns following the January 6 assault on the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump.

Mr Biden signed 15 executive actions shortly after being sworn in, undoing policies put in place by Mr Trump, and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change.

“Some of the executive actions I’m going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we’re going to combat climate change in a way that we haven’t done so far and advance racial equity and support other under-served communities” said Mr Biden. “These are just all starting points.”

Aides said the actions the Democratic president signed included a mask mandate on federal property and for federal employees, an order to establish a new White House office co-ordinating the response to the coronavirus, and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organisation.

Mr Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Mr Biden revoked Mr Trump’s emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.

The day one plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Mr Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki.

Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks US funding for programs overseas linked to abortion.

On the economic front, Mr Biden asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.

Meanwhile Mr Trump flouted one last convention on his way out of the White House when he refused to meet with Mr Biden or attend his successor’s inauguration, breaking with a political tradition seen as affirming the peaceful transfer of power.

Mr Trump did not mention Mr Biden by name in his final remarks as president on Wednesday morning – when he touted his government’s record and promised to be back “in some form” – but predicted the new administration will have “great success”.

He boarded Air Force One for the last time and headed to his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida.
Top Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence and the party’s congressional leaders, attended Biden’s inauguration, along with former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Mr Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, became the first black person, first woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president after she was sworn in by US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina member.

A protester objecting to the inauguration waves an American flag upside down in Salt Lake City. Picture: Rick Bowmer

Mr Biden takes office at a time of deep unease, with the country facing what his advisers have described as four compounding crises: the pandemic, the economic downtown, climate change and racial inequality.

After a bitter campaign marked by Mr Trump’s allegations of election fraud, Mr Biden struck a conciliatory tone, asking those who did not vote for him to give him a chance to be their president as well.

“To overcome these challenges to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity,” he said.

“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this – if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”

The ceremony on Wednesday unfolded in front of a heavily fortified US Capitol, where a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building two weeks ago, enraged by his claims that the election was stolen with millions of fraudulent votes.

Lady Gaga sings the National Anthem during the Inauguration. Picture: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

The violence prompted the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives to impeach Mr Trump last week for an unprecedented second time.

Thousands of National Guard troops were called into the city after the siege, which left five people dead and briefly forced lawmakers into hiding.

Instead of a throng of supporters, the National Mall on Wednesday was covered by nearly 200,000 flags and 56 pillars of light meant to represent people from US states and territories.

“Here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work on our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground,” Mr Biden said.

“It did not happen; it will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Mr Biden’s inauguration is the zenith of a five-decade career in public service that included more than three decades in the US Senate and two terms as vice president under former president Barack Obama.

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