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For Many Across America, a Sigh of Relief as a New Era Begins
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential InaugurationliveLatest UpdatesScenes From the DayBiden’s SpeechBiden Sworn InBiden’s Long RoadCredit…Jason Andrew for The New York TimesFor Many Across America, a Sigh of Relief as a New Era Begins“I feel lighter,” said a woman in Chicago. For many in an exhausted, divided nation, the inauguration was a sea change, not just a transition.Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyJan. 20, 2021, 7:01 p.m. ETEarly Inauguration Day morning, she slipped into her pandemic-era work clothes of gray sweatpants and white shirt and ground the beans. Then, with her mug of coffee, she watched on her kitchen television as the green-and-white helicopter took air, removing from the White House grounds the outgoing 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.In that kitchen, in a brick Colonial house in Watertown, Mass., tears came to the eyes of the woman, Karolyn Kurkjian-Jones. Tears of unabashed joy.“It’s over, it’s over, it’s over,” Ms. Kurkjian-Jones, a retired kindergarten teacher and pandemic-furloughed concierge at the Boston Park Plaza hotel, said later. “He’s gone.”Since the election in November of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the 46th president, a great deal of attention has been paid to the conspiracy theories of Republicans who supported Mr. Trump — especially those who, heeding his combustible words about a stolen election, overran the Capitol in a surge of violence and vandalism on Jan. 6.Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated after being sworn in Wednesday.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesBut so many more Americans, nearly 81.3 million of them, are like Ms. Kurkjian-Jones, people who voted for Mr. Biden and against Mr. Trump. And, on Wednesday, exactly two weeks after the attack on the Capitol, they celebrated with liquor and baked goods, with Zoom calls and “Amazing Grace” and tears of joy, a new day: a day in which a nation pushed a reset button.In Chicago, not far from a bakery doing a brisk business in inauguration-themed treats — a Wonder Woman cake featuring the face of Vice President Kamala Harris, for example — Sarah Rassey, 40, made plans to watch the inauguration with her daughter, Madeleine, who also happened to be turning 5.“I feel lighter,” Ms. Rassey said of Mr. Biden’s presidency. “I’m just grateful, relieved, happy — and, honestly, I’ve been crying tears of joy since last night.”In Texas, a pair of sisters — both special-education teachers from Killeen — drove more than an hour to be in front of the State Capitol in Austin in time to watch the inauguration on a cellphone. Norma Luna, 49, and Sylvia Luna, 43, were there in part to honor a third sister, Veronica, 56, who died of the coronavirus on Election Day.Norma Luna, left, and her sister Sylvia watched a livestream of the inauguration from the Texas Capitol.Credit…Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times“It’s a relief,” Norma Luna cried as she watched the ceremony. “I didn’t think we could get here. We’re proud to be Americans again.”In Annandale, Va., Isra Chaker, 30, an advocate for refugees and asylum seekers at Oxfam America, felt unburdened of the need to justify her “Americanness” during the Trump administration — even though she was born and raised by Syrian immigrants in Boulder, Colo.“Today I know that I belong here,” Ms. Chaker, a Muslim who wears a hijab, said. “It was reaffirmed that we are all America and America is all of us.”And at the Calamari’s Squid Row restaurant in Erie, Pa., vodka was the noontime alcohol of choice among some women who call themselves the Drinking Girls. Mary Jo Campbell, 70, a retired university professor and an official in the Erie County Democratic Party, was there, along with her friends Linda, and Kathy, and Alice, and Cheryl, and Karen, and Amy, and Emily — a band assembled in commiseration after Mr. Trump’s election in 2016.The Presidential Inauguration More
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What Are You Hoping For Over the Next Four Years?
It could be a better economy, a personal milestone or an ambitious policy. Tell us what you’re hoping will happen during the Biden administration. ✓ Thanks for sharing with us! <!– I’m voting… –> 35 <!– About you –> Name (first and last, please) Age City State Email Your email will not be published. Your […] More
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Joe Biden Will Be Sworn In on a Family Bible at Inauguration
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential InaugurationliveWatchHighlightsScenes from the CapitalScheduleQuestions, AnsweredJoseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in for a second term as vice president on Jan. 20, 2013, with his left hand resting on the Biden family Bible.Credit…Josh Haner/The New York TimesJoe Biden’s Family Bible Has a Long HistoryHe’s used the same Bible as far back as 1973. It was also used by his son Beau.Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in for a second term as vice president on Jan. 20, 2013, with his left hand resting on the Biden family Bible.Credit…Josh Haner/The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyJan. 20, 2021, 8:55 a.m. ETWhen President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. takes the oath of office on Wednesday, he is likely to place his hand on a familial artifact that has followed him throughout his 50-year political career: a hefty Bible, accented with a Celtic cross, that has been in his family since 1893.The Bible has been a staple at Mr. Biden’s past swearing-in ceremonies as a U.S. senator and as vice president. His son Beau Biden also used it when he was sworn in as the Delaware attorney general.Mr. Biden, who will make history as the country’s second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, often invoked his faith during the 2020 presidential campaign as he courted voters with a promise to restore the “soul of America.”In an interview last month with Stephen Colbert, Mr. Biden shared some history about the family heirloom.“Every important date is in there,” Mr. Biden said. “For example, every time I’ve been sworn in for anything, the date is inscribed.”But on Tuesday, a spokesman for Mr. Biden’s inaugural committee said he could not confirm whether Mr. Biden would use that tome for his inauguration — or even whether he would use a single Bible. (President Trump used two.)Beau Biden, the elder son of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., with the family Bible at his father’s second inauguration as vice president, in 2013.Credit…Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesJoseph R. Biden Jr. rested his hand on the family Bible while being sworn in as a U.S. senator in 1973. Beau Biden, foreground right, was in attendance (if not necessarily paying attention).Credit…Associated PressThe Bible that a president-elect chooses to use for the swearing-in ceremony often relays a symbolic message to the American public, said Seth A. Perry, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University and the author of “Bible Culture and Authority in the Early United States.”“It’s difficult to imagine the ritual of the inauguration happening without that book at this point,” Professor Perry said. “It’s part of the scenery. It’s part of the thing that gives the moment the authority that it has.”Here’s a look how the Bible has figured into some of the most pivotal moments in U.S. history: the inaugurations of new American presidents.Washington’s Bible has been popular with other presidents.Like much of the pageantry associated with presidential inaugurations, the presence of a Bible at swearing-in ceremonies is steeped in tradition, dating all the way to the nation’s first president.The Presidential Inauguration More
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Joe Biden’s Long Road to the Presidency
The story begins with an Irish Catholic family in northeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Biden was born in 1942, the eldest son of Joseph Robinette Biden Sr. and Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden. He was also a son of Scranton, Pa., which would become central to his political identity. The Biden family moved to Delaware when he was 10 years old.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. at age 10Biden family
Mr. Biden, back right, with his younger siblings James and Valerie.Biden family
Mr. Biden attended Syracuse University College of Law.Biden campaign
After graduating from law school, Mr. Biden got his start in local politics in Delaware, winning election to the New Castle County Council in 1970. Two years later, at just 29 years old, he challenged a well-known Republican incumbent, Senator J. Caleb Boggs, a former Delaware governor. Mr. Biden won in a major upset.
1970: During the New Castle County Council campaign.Biden campaign
Nov. 1972: Celebrating his 30th birthday with his wife, Neilia, and their children.Bettman, via Getty Images
Jan. 1973: Mr. Biden’s son Beau in a hospital bed.Brian Horton/Associated Press
Weeks after Mr. Biden’s victory, his wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car accident. Mr. Biden considered giving up the Senate seat that he had just won but was persuaded to serve. He was sworn in at the hospital where his sons were treated for injuries from the crash.
Dec. 1973: At Union Station in Washington.Bettman, via Getty Images
As a senator, Mr. Biden commuted to Washington by train, a routine that allowed him to return home to his children each night. In the 1970s, he was a vocal opponent of busing, and decades later, he would come under fire after recalling working with segregationist senators during his early years in the Senate. As time went on, he gained clout in the chamber, becoming the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and then the panel’s chairman.
Feb. 1978: With President Jimmy Carter at a fund-raiser.Associated Press
Feb. 1981: Serving on the Foreign Relations Committee.George Tames/The New York Times
In 1977, he married Jill Jacobs; they would later have a daughter, Ashley.
Jan. 1985: His second wife, Jill, left, and their children at a swearing-in ceremony.Lana Harris/Associated Press
Aug. 1986: On the Judiciary Committee with Senators Strom Thurmond, third from the left, and Edward M. Kennedy, center.Lana Harris/Associated Press
June 1987: A campaign kickoff rally in Wilmington, Del.Keith Meyers/The New York Times
In 1987, Mr. Biden began his first presidential campaign, aiming to win the Democratic nomination the following year. The 44-year-old candidate presented himself as representing a new generation and declared, “We must rekindle the fire of idealism in this country.” But his bid was derailed by a plagiarism scandal, and he dropped out of the race months before the first nominating contest.
June 1987: Trains became a part of Mr. Biden’s political identity.Keith Meyers/The New York Times
June 1987: The 1988 Democratic presidential candidates included Al Gore, third from right; the Rev. Jesse Jackson, third from left; and Michael S. Dukakis, second from left, the eventual nominee.Charles Tasnadi/Associated Press
Sept. 1987: Announcing the end of his campaign.Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times
His presidential hopes dashed, Mr. Biden faced a far graver kind of peril in early 1988: a life-threatening brain aneurysm that required emergency surgery. Not long after that, he had another operation for a second brain aneurysm. Later that year, he returned to the Senate after a seven-month absence.
Sept. 1988: Returning to the Senate after recovering from brain surgery.Ron Edmonds/Associated Press
As the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Biden presided over confirmation hearings for six Supreme Court nominees, including Robert H. Bork, whose nomination Mr. Biden succeeded in defeating, and Clarence Thomas. The memory of the Thomas hearings would linger for decades as Mr. Biden faced criticism for his handling of Anita Hill’s testimony before his committee.
Oct. 1991: Mr. Biden, left, swearing in Anita Hill.Shutterstock
Mr. Biden also left his mark on consequential legislation, playing a leading role in passing the 1994 crime bill, which would become associated with mass incarceration. The Violence Against Women Act, one of Mr. Biden’s top legislative achievements, became law as part of the crime bill.
July 1994: A news conference on the Violence Against Women Act.John Duricka/Associated Press
Jan. 1999: With Attorney General Janet Reno, left, and President Bill Clinton at a community policing event.Paul Hosefros/The New York Times
Oct. 2002: President George W. Bush signed the authorization of force against Iraq.Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mr. Biden immersed himself in foreign policy during his decades as a senator, rising to serve as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 2002, he voted to authorize the war in Iraq, a vote that he later called a mistake.
Aug. 2005: A Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Senator Barack Obama.Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Two decades after his first presidential bid imploded, Mr. Biden decided to try again in the 2008 election. Now in his 60s, he ran as a leader steeped in foreign policy, but he stumbled immediately when he described Mr. Obama, then a fellow senator and presidential candidate, as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Mr. Biden’s campaign never caught on with voters, and he dropped out after finishing in a distant fifth place in the Iowa caucuses.
Aug. 2007: The Democratic field included Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who was then a senator from New York, right.Keith Bedford for The New York Times
Oct. 2007: Meeting with voters in Iowa.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Jan. 2008: Signing a campaign button in Iowa.Joshua Lott for The New York Times
Jan. 2008: Leaving a caucus site in Des Moines.David Lienemann/Associated Press
After Mr. Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, he selected Mr. Biden to be his running mate. The choice added a dose of foreign policy experience to the ticket and began a close political partnership between the two men. As vice president, Mr. Biden oversaw the implementation of the 2009 stimulus bill and later headed the administration’s cancer moonshot program.
Oct. 2008: Campaigning as Mr. Obama’s running mate.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Jan. 2009: Marching in the inaugural parade with his wife, Jill, and their children Hunter, Ashley and Beau.Doug Mills/The New York Times
June 2009: During a meeting on economic legislation at the White House.Doug Mills/The New York Times
A skilled retail politician, Mr. Biden is known for his tactile, backslapping style, embracing one-on-one interactions on the campaign trail and elsewhere. His touchy-feely nature came under scrutiny in the #MeToo era, with a number of women saying he had touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.
Sept. 2012: Campaigning for re-election in Ohio.Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
Jan. 2013: Beau Biden at the inaugural ceremony.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press
Decades after losing his first wife and daughter, Mr. Biden faced another family tragedy in 2015: His son Beau, who followed him into politics and served two terms as Delaware’s attorney general, died of brain cancer at 46. Mr. Biden cited his son’s death, and the grieving that followed, when he announced he would not run for president in 2016.
June 2015: At Beau Biden’s funeral.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Sept. 2015: Announcing he would not run for president in 2016.Carlos Barria/Reuters
After leaving office as vice president, he published a memoir and gave paid speeches, earning millions of dollars. He campaigned for Democratic candidates ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
Dec. 2018: At a book event in Vermont.Hilary Swift for The New York Times
In the first months of 2019, the Democratic presidential field grew larger and larger, and Mr. Biden showed no urgency to declare his candidacy. He finally jumped into the race in late April, denouncing President Trump as a threat to the nation’s character.
May 2019: A campaign kickoff event in Philadelphia.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
June 2019: With a portion of the Democratic candidates at the first debate.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Despite his stature as a former vice president, Mr. Biden struggled to attract some primary voters who were turned off by his moderate brand of politics and his septuagenarian status — a far cry from his days as the 29-year-old Senate candidate. Mr. Biden fell flat in the first nominating contests, finishing in fourth place in Iowa and fifth place in New Hampshire.
Despite his early difficulties in two overwhelmingly white states, Mr. Biden counted on receiving strong support from Black voters in later contests. A big win in South Carolina turned his campaign around, and after picking up a series of key endorsements from former primary opponents, he defeated a more progressive rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to win the Democratic nomination.
Feb. 2020: Connecting with voters in Iowa.Jordan Gale for The New York Times
March 2020: At a campaign event with two former presidential candidates, Senators Kamala Harris, center, and Cory Booker.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
June 2020: A socially distant meeting with community leaders in Wilmington, Del.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic upended the presidential race, and Mr. Biden limited himself to campaigning virtually for much of the spring as the outbreak raged. He eventually began making occasional in-person appearances, and in August, he chose Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.
Aug. 2020: Ms. Harris was announced as Mr. Biden’s running mate.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Mr. Biden confronted an extraordinary general election that played out as the pandemic continued to disrupt American life. He repeatedly condemned Mr. Trump’s handling of the crisis, while the president and his allies tried to portray Mr. Biden as a tool of the far left.
The first general election debate quickly devolved into a headache-inducing brawl, as Mr. Trump repeatedly interrupted his opponent. Just days after sharing the stage with Mr. Biden, the president announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sept. 2020: The first debate with President Trump.Doug Mills/The New York Times
In his visits to battleground states, Mr. Biden held carefully arranged events with mask wearing and social distancing. Eschewing the packed events with big crowds that are a staple of presidential campaigns, he held a string of drive-in car rallies where voters beeped their horns to cheer him on.
Oct. 2020: Supporters at a drive-in rally in Des Moines.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Oct. 2020: Mr. Obama joined Mr. Biden at a campaign rally in Flint, Mich.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Nov. 2020: Celebrating the win with Ms. Harris four days after the election.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Nov. 2020: After twice falling short, Mr. Biden succeeded in his third presidential campaign.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Election night stretched deep into the week as ballots were counted in key states. Four days after polls closed, Mr. Biden was declared the winner. In the weeks that followed, he rolled out a diverse slate of cabinet picks and prepared to take office.
Nov. 2020: Introducing members of his national security team.Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times
Dec. 2020: Receiving the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.Amr Alfiky/The New York Times
Mr. Biden received the Covid-19 vaccine and promised to step up vaccinations across the country, setting a goal of getting 100 million shots into the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office.
Jan. 2021: Campaigning with Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock in the Georgia Senate runoffs.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Early January brought a major boost to his hopes of passing his legislative agenda. Democrats won both runoff elections for Georgia’s Senate seats, putting their party in control of the chamber.
Mr. Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday is taking place 48 years after he first arrived in Washington as one of the youngest people to be elected senator. With his swearing-in, he will become the oldest president in American history.
Jan. 2021: Arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Jan. 2021: Attending a memorial for victims of the coronavirus at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.Doug Mills/The New York Times More
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Trump Grants Clemency to Stephen Bannon and Other Allies
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential InaugurationliveWatchHighlightsScenes from the CapitalScheduleQuestions, AnsweredAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWith Hours Left in Office, Trump Grants Clemency to Bannon and Other AlliesThe president continued using his power to help his supporters, including his former chief strategist and one of his top 2016 fund-raisers.Stephen K. Bannon in 2017 at the White House. He was under indictment on charges that he misused money he helped raise for a group backing President Trump’s border wall.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesMaggie Haberman, Kenneth P. Vogel, Eric Lipton and Jan. 20, 2021Updated 2:15 a.m. ETWASHINGTON — President Trump used his final hours in office to wipe away convictions and prison sentences for a roster of corrupt politicians and business executives and bestow pardons on allies like Stephen K. Bannon, his former chief strategist, and Elliott Broidy, one of his top fund-raisers in 2016.The wave of clemency grants, hours before Mr. Trump’s departure from the White House, underscored how many of his close associates and supporters became ensnared in corruption cases and other legal troubles, and highlighted again his willingness to use his power to help them and others with connections to him.His decision to grant clemency to a raft of elected officials and business executives caught up in high-profile corruption cases also represented a final lashing out by Mr. Trump at a criminal justice system that he had come to view as unfairly hounding him and his allies. It came as the Senate prepared for his second impeachment trial, on a charge of inciting the deadly riot at the Capitol this month, and could be another factor in influencing whether Republicans join Democrats in voting to convict him.Mr. Trump retains the power to issue further pardons — including theoretically for himself and members of his family — until noon Wednesday, when his four-year tenure comes to an end. But officials said they did not anticipate him doing so.The latest round of pardons and commutations — 143 in total — followed dozens last month, when Mr. Trump pardoned associates like Paul Manafort and Roger J. Stone Jr., and four Blackwater guards convicted in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians.Mr. Bannon was under indictment on charges that he misused money he helped raise for a group backing Mr. Trump’s border wall, but had not yet gone to trial. Mr. Broidy pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.Rick Renzi in 2007. Mr. Renzi, a Republican and former member of the House, was sentenced in 2013 to three years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme involving an Arizona land swap deal.Credit…Pool photo by Sabah ArarAmong others receiving pardons from Mr. Trump were three prominent Republicans who had served in the House before their convictions. They were Rick Renzi, who was sentenced in 2013 to three years in jail in association with a bribery scheme involving an Arizona land swap deal; Robert Hayes of North Carolina, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to lying to the F.B.I.; and Randall “Duke” Cunningham of California, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors.Mr. Trump commuted the sentence of Kwame M. Kilpatrick, a Democrat and former Detroit mayor who was convicted in 2013 for using his office to enrich himself and his family through shakedowns, kickbacks and bid-rigging schemes.And Mr. Trump commuted the sentence of William T. Walters, a wealthy sports gambler. A jury convicted Mr. Walters in 2017 on charges related to his role in an insider-trading scheme, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.Mr. Walters hired Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer John M. Dowd in 2018, after he stopped representing Mr. Trump, The New York Times reported this week. Mr. Dowd bragged to Mr. Walters and others that he could help them receive a pardon because of his close relationship with the president.Mr. Dowd had also said that Mr. Trump would look favorably upon those who had been investigated by federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, an office that the president has long viewed as hostile to him and that has been involved in other investigations touching on him and his allies, according to two people briefed on the matter. Mr. Walters has paid Mr. Dowd tens of thousands of dollars to represent him, the people said.The pardon of Mr. Bannon was particularly notable because he had been charged with a crime but had yet to stand trial. An overwhelming majority of pardons and commutations granted by presidents have been for those convicted and sentenced.The White House had planned to release the list of those granted clemency earlier in the day, but the debate over Mr. Bannon, who encouraged Mr. Trump publicly to fight the certification of the 2020 election, was part of the delay, officials said.By late afternoon Tuesday, advisers believed they had kept a pardon for Mr. Bannon from happening. But by about 9 p.m., Mr. Trump had changed his mind and Mr. Bannon was added to the list.Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon spoke by phone during the day as the president was weighing the pardon, as Mr. Bannon’s allies tried to apply pressure to make it happen and his detractors pushed the president not to go ahead with it.Among other things, Mr. Bannon has been a frequent antagonist of the Republican leader in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has blamed Mr. Trump for stoking the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mr. McConnell has left open the possibility of voting to convict Mr. Trump in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial.Mr. Bannon in August leaving Federal District Court in Manhattan after his arrest and arraignment on fraud charges.Credit…Jefferson Siegel for The New York TimesMr. Trump’s decision to grant Mr. Bannon a pardon is the latest twist in a complicated relationship between the two men that started during the 2016 presidential campaign, fell apart during Mr. Bannon’s time as the White House’s chief strategist and was resurrected in recent months as Mr. Bannon encouraged Mr. Trump’s bid for a second term and the efforts to overturn the election.Mr. Bannon was indicted and arrested in August by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on charges related to the money raised to promote the construction of the border wall long sought by Mr. Trump.The group said that it planned to use the funds to build portions of the wall that Mr. Trump had been blocked from using federal funding on. Conservative activists, like Mr. Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., appeared at an event for the group, which ultimately brought in $25 million in donations. Mr. Bannon used $1 million for his own personal expenses, according to the prosecutors.The Presidential Inauguration More
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On Night Before Inauguration, Biden Leads Mourning for Virus Victims
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential InaugurationliveLatest UpdatesQuestions, AnsweredWho’s PerformingHeightened SecurityPast Inaugural FirstsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOn Night Before Inauguration, Biden Leads Mourning for Virus Victims“To heal we must remember,” Mr. Biden said, standing in front of the Reflecting Pool, which was surrounded by 400 lights meant to mark the 400,000 people who have died from Covid-19.President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. with his wife, Jill Biden, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Mr. Biden paid tribute to the victims of the pandemic on the same day that the death toll in the United States topped a staggering 400,000.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesJan. 19, 2021Updated 9:56 p.m. ETWASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived in the nation’s capital on Tuesday for the first time since his election, and on the eve of his inauguration, he did what his predecessor declined to do by leading a national mourning for Americans killed by the coronavirus.In a somber sundown ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in a city virtually occupied by troops on guard against political violence, Mr. Biden paid tribute to the victims of the pandemic on the same day that the death toll in the United States topped a staggering 400,000 — and almost a year to the day from the first report of the virus appearing in the country.“To heal we must remember,” Mr. Biden said, standing in front of the Reflecting Pool, which was surrounded by 400 lights meant to mark the 400,000 victims of the virus. “It’s hard sometimes to remember. But that’s how we heal. It’s important to do that as a nation. That’s why we’re here today. Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness along the sacred pool of reflection and remember all whom we lost.”As the incoming president spoke, the bells at Washington National Cathedral began to chime and the Empire State Building in New York and the Space Needle in Seattle were illuminated. Cities from Miami to San Diego also lit buildings for the occasion while Mr. Biden’s inaugural committee encouraged Americans to light candles in their windows in a show of national solidarity. Events were also held in the two cities that Mr. Biden calls his hometowns, Wilmington, Del., and Scranton, Pa.A field of flags on the National Mall represents the thousands of Americans who would normally attend the inauguration.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesThe evocative ceremony provided a moment of catharsis that the nation has not experienced until now and underscored the change in store as Mr. Biden takes the oath of office on Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States. Throughout the pandemic, President Trump has refused to hold a similar event of national mourning and offered little public empathy for its victims, even as he and members of his family and staff have themselves been infected and recovered from the virus.Mr. Trump made no mention of the grim new landmark of 400,000 dead on Tuesday in his farewell address to the nation and referred to the victims in just a single sentence. “We grieve for every life lost, and we pledge in their memory to wipe out this horrible pandemic once and for all,” he said in the address, which was released on video.Otherwise, he focused on the “brutal toll” the virus took on the economy and boasted of his success in developing a vaccine in record time, without mentioning the troubles in distributing the lifesaving shots.For Mr. Biden, 78, it was a melancholy day as he prepared to take the reins of a country in crisis on Wednesday. In leaving Wilmington for Washington to achieve a goal he spent three and a half decades seeking, he was openly emotional, wiping tears from his eyes and choking up. He mused aloud about his own death and said he wished it was his dead son, Beau Biden, who was becoming president rather than him. But he insisted that dark days would be followed by brighter ones.“It’s deeply personal that our next journey to Washington starts here, a place that defines the very best of who we are as Americans,” the president-elect said at a send-off ceremony at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center in New Castle, Del., named for the son who served in Iraq and as the state’s attorney general before dying of brain cancer in 2015. “I know these are dark times, but there’s always light. That’s what makes this state so special. That’s what it taught me: There’s always light.”Paraphrasing James Joyce, who once said, “When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart,” Mr. Biden paused to compose himself and his voice trembled. “Excuse the emotion, but when I die, Delaware will be written on my heart,” he said. Referring to Beau Biden, he added: “I only have one regret, that he’s not here. We should be introducing him as president.”The Presidential Inauguration More
