US inauguration: Joe Biden sworn in as 46th president of the United States

Key points:
• Joe Biden has been sworn in as the new US president.
• Donald Trump avoided his successor's inauguration, the first US president to do so in more than a century.
• In his final speech as president, Trump declared "we will be back in some form".
• Before leaving office, President Trump released a list of final pardons but did not pardon himself.
• "People around the world have been counting days and hours until this moment when voices of integrity and reason return to the White House," writes Dawn Picken here.
• "Many Americans who voted for Trump thought he was a smart businessman with razor sharp elbows. As he exits today, some are now surprised to learn he was more of a gangster," writes Dick Brass here.
• "The election of Biden should see the New Zealand and Australian relationships with the US regain more symmetry," writes Claire Trevett here.

Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, declaring that "democracy has prevailed" as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a multitude of crises.

"The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We've learned again that democracy is precious and democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed," Biden said. "This is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve."

Biden then pivoted to the challenges ahead, acknowledging the surging coronavirus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States. He looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic's deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation's renewed reckoning on racial injustice.

"We have much to do in this winter of peril, and significant possibilities: much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain," Biden said. "Few people in our nation's history have more challenged, or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we're in now."

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Biden's predecessor's absence underscored the healing that is needed. Flouting tradition, Donald Trump departed Washington this morning ahead of the inauguration rather than accompany his successor to the Capitol. Though three other former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama — gathered to watch the ceremonial transfer of power, Trump, awaiting his second impeachment trial, instead flew to Florida after stoking grievance among his supporters with the lie that Biden's win was illegitimate.

Biden, in his third run for the presidency, staked his candidacy less on any distinctive political ideology than on galvanising a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy.

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Photo / AP

Biden did not mention Trump by name in the early moments of his inaugural address but soon alluded to the rifts his predecessor had helped create.

"I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh, ugly reality of racism, nativism, fear, demonisation that have long torn us apart," Biden said.

"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward and we must meet this moment as the United States of America."

Barack Obama greets Joe Biden on stage with a fist-bump. Photo / AP

Biden came to office with a well of empathy and resolve born by personal tragedy as well as a depth of experience forged from more than four decades in Washington. At age 78, he is the oldest president inaugurated.

More history was made at his side, as Kamala Harris became the first woman to be vice president. The former US senator from California is also the first black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government.

The two were sworn in during an inauguration ceremony with few parallels in history. Tens of thousands of troops are on the streets to provide security precisely two weeks after a violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by the Republican president, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden's victory.

"Here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people," Biden said. "To stop the work of our democracy. To drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. Not ever."

Biden's inauguration saw unprecedented levels of security following the siege on the US Capitol by Trump supporters two weeks ago. Photo / AP

The tense atmosphere evoked the 1861 inauguration of Lincoln, who was secretly transported to Washington to avoid assassins on the eve of the Civil War, or Roosevelt's inaugural in 1945, when he opted for a small, secure ceremony at the White House in the waning months of World War II.

The day began with a reach across the aisle after four years of bitter partisan battles under Trump. At Biden's invitation, congressional leaders from both parties bowed their heads in prayer in the socially distanced service just a few blocks from the White House.

Trump is the first president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor. In a cold wind, Marine One took off from the White House and soared above a deserted capital city to his own farewell celebration at nearby Joint Base Andrews.

There, he boarded Air Force One for the final time as president for the flight to his Florida estate.

"I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening and I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better," said Trump, who wished the incoming administration well but once again declined to mention Biden by name.

Trump did adhere to tradition in leaving a note for Biden in the Oval Office, according to the White House, which did not release its contents. And Trump, in his farewell remarks, hinted at a political return, saying "we will be back in some form".

Trump's second impeachment trial could start as early as this week. That could test the ability of the Senate, poised to come under Democratic control, to balance impeachment proceedings with confirmation hearings and votes on Biden's Cabinet choices.

Biden was eager to go big early, with an ambitious first 100 days that includes a push to speed up the distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass a US$1.9 trillion virus relief package. On Day One, he'll also send an immigration proposal to Capitol Hill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.

He also planned a 10-day blitz of executive orders on matters that don't require congressional approval — a mix of substantive and symbolic steps to unwind the Trump years.

Among the planned steps: rescinding travel restrictions on people from several predominantly Muslim countries; rejoining the Paris climate accord; issuing a mask mandate for those on federal property; and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from their families after crossing the border.