Joe Biden was just recently sworn in as the 46th president of the United States Yesterday(1/20/21). This inauguration ceremony for Joe Biden is officially kicking off a star-studded and mostly virtual celebration. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in at the West Front of the Capitol just before noon. Biden placed his hand on a bible that was held by his wife Jill Biden, the bible is a family bible that is more than 100 years old. He used this special family bible in order to take the oath of office and to officially become president.
There were some guests, only about 1,000 or so and they had to be socially distanced. There were many famous faces, former leaders, including former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and Mike Pence. Donald Trump was not present, and this final childish act makes him the first president to skip a successor’s inauguration in over 100 years.
Lady Gaga was there to sing the national anthem for those watching. That performance was followed by a virtual parade that had involved all the various states and territories of the union. There isn’t going to be the usual inauguration ball this time. Instead, there is going to be a television special honoring the new president at 8:30 p.m. ET. That celebration special for Biden and Harris was going to be hosted by Tom Hanks. Many familiar faces took part in that program as well, including appearances and musical performances by Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Demi Lovato, and also Bruce Springsteen, among others. This ceremony looked a lot different from the ones in the past because of COVID-19 and the distancing rules in place.
This year, following the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, the National Park Service had to make the decision to effectively shut down access to the National Mall and so there couldn’t be the usual thousands of supporters standing to watch the ceremony. Instead, they used 200,000 US flags that were planted on the Mall which were imagined to represent the people who were essentially unable to attend.