WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden was elected on a pledge to restore the White House’s normality, but his presidency began on Wednesday with an extraordinary oath, with most of the splendor deprived by the necessity of circumstances.
The day did not go as the inaugurations of the past did. The mall was not buzzing with exuberant crowds; the streets are not crowded with parade spectators; and the city’s ballrooms were not adorned with gowns in dresses.
But it did happen nonetheless, which may be the only thing that matters at a moment when America’s democratic institutions have been tested almost to the breaking point.
“Democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile,” the new president said after reading his family’s 127-year-old Bible. “And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
Washington is a capital city accustomed to the hammer blows of history, from civil war to terrorist attacks. But an unprecedented president, a global pandemic and recent deadly riots have made the typical moment of rejoicing especially relief.
“You could lower the country’s combined blood pressure by 100 points during the ceremony,” Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said.
Organizers tried to maintain as much of the ceremony as possible while protecting it from the Covid-19 pandemic and the threats of violence, but they could save little beyond its core function: what Ronald Reagan did to the ‘everyday and miraculous’ act of hand over power.
“We are a nation in crisis, so I do not think it was a celebration in the traditional sense,” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo, said. ‘To have had the riots in that exact spot almost two weeks ago, and now we’re the transition of power there, Republicans and Democrats, really a powerful moment. ‘
Crowds, away. Masks, on. The outgoing president, nowhere to be seen, for the first time in more than 150 years. The parade route, lined with soldiers instead of spectators. The door to the Capitol, still smashed from the mob attack.
Even in the inner bubble, where the most normal is protected, on the stage where the leaders of all three branches of government, politicians whose nature it is to shake hands and embrace, had to keep their distance as best they could before chairs at a distance taken 6 feet apart.
And yet, as if on purpose, the sky cleared just before the official handover around noon, the sun came out and Lady Gaga sang the national anthem.
“If Hollywood were to write this screenplay, we would say it’s chubby, but it’s happening in real time, in real time,” Sen said. Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I.
The stripped-down ceremony itself went smoothly, with performances by Garth Brooks and Jennifer Lopez, and prayers and poetry. Yet, the tone was relatively softened, underscoring a silent prayer for those who had been lost due to the virus.
It could hardly have been a slimmer contrast when Biden sat on the entry stage a dozen years ago to be sworn in as a vice president of Barack Obama.
Then the mood was jubilant. Polls showed Americans, including Republicans, were overwhelmingly optimistic about their new president. It is estimated that 1.8 million people from across the country flocked to sleep on couches and floors and ride the bus all night for a chance to stand in the bitter cold at the National Mall and history see, though most were too far away to actually witness anything.
Bars and restaurants and hotels overflowed until late at night. Music blew out of windows. People danced in the streets, next to vendors hawking memorial buttons and T-shirts. Salons, clothing makers and caterers worked overtime to accommodate VIPs for balls – the Obamas attended 10.
“With Obama he was so famous and there was so much crowd, and there was so much shouting and crying, it was almost like being at a sports event in a stadium,” Whitehouse said. “It was much more intimate. And it had a lot of soul. ”
Rep. Vicente González, D-Texas, who was elected the same year as Trump, said he was initially upset because Trump decided to skip the ceremony, but eventually felt it was a positive development.
“Not having him was quite nice for the change,” Gonzalez said. “I think it made for a wonderful opportunity. This is a whole new chapter. We are starting a new era with a new president, with a new Senate, with a new Congress that I think is willing to work together. ”
Each inauguration contains a huge safety footprint, but if Obama’s first four portions of Mardi Gras were to become one part of martial law, Biden turned the mix into a recipe born of both paranoia and patriotism.
This is at least the third time in less than a year that plywood has hit store windows in Washington. And in downtown “Green Zone,” people took deserted people in deserted streets with checkpoints and armored vehicles, instead of the famous Americana attractions Washington offers.
The ordinary ring of police outside the Capitol was dwarfed by the National Guard troops guarding miles of black fences covered with razor wire.
Outside the built-in windows of one flashy steakhouse, where lobbyists could otherwise devise plans for the new administration, a server in a pure white shirt paid attention to his only customers, four non-serving federal agents, on their hips. .
While the inauguration ceremony was just a few blocks away, the area next to the National Mall was terribly quiet. Generators, golf carts and the occasional windstorm produced the only soundtrack.
There was no sign of protesters or supporters. Instead, hundreds of thousands of flags installed by the inaugural committee fluttered in the wind.
A group of inaugural staff – who would do their best to attract as large a crowd as possible in any other year – approached by NBC News, noted how successful they were in keeping people away.
Gabriel Achemu, a 39-year-old Uber driver who lives in the Washington area, said he was upset about the two weeks that followed the riot in the Capitol – his city looks and feels nothing like it used to. The inauguration made him pray for one thing – national unity.
“What we want is unity for the whole country,” said Achemu, originally from Nigeria. “That’s my biggest wish for Joe Biden.”
For Biden, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream. But none of that seemed like he would have to imagine it, as he first considered running for president in the early 1980s.
Not his Democratic primary campaign, which began with embarrassments in Iowa and New Hampshire. Not his general election race, where he was forced to drop his beloved rope line for Zoom. Not the way he was declared the winner, four sweaty days after the election. And certainly not his transition to power, which faced unprecedented opposition from the outgoing president, which cut off the ceremony.
Early in his campaign, Biden portrayed himself as a grizzled political veteran who retired for one last job, although he recruited himself for the job. But as anyone knows who has seen this movie, that last work always goes sideways before the unraveling.
“Here’s the thing of life,” Biden said in his remarks. “The fate you are going to deal with is not taken into account.”