WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has sworn the oath of office at noon to become the 46th president of the United States. He takes the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherit a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. But there were comforting signs of tradition for the hallowed American democratic rite now underway at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago. On a chilly Washington day dotted with snow flurries, a bipartisan trio of ex-presidents along with the elite of nation’s government gathered for the ceremony.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s President Joe Biden’s moment, and Washington is pivoting to life after Donald Trump. Centuries-old rituals marking the peaceful transfer of power played out in the capital as the Democrat ascended to the presidency. Biden took office after an intense effort by Trump to upend the election results, and violence at the Capitol by his supporters. Biden nodded to that when he declared “Democracy has prevailed.” Trump left Washington after refusing to concede, attend the inauguration or follow most of the other traditions of inauguration day. But the rituals went on without him, with crowds sparse by design in a time of security worries and a pandemic.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden was safely sworn in as president in a Washington on edge. There were a few scattered arrests but no major protests or serious disruptions in the city during the inauguration ceremony, which took place just two weeks after rioters loyal to former President Donald Trump besieged the U.S. Capitol. Law enforcement officials contended not only with the potential for outside threats but also with rising concerns about an insider attack. Authorities monitored members of far-right extremist and militia groups, increasingly concerned about the risk they could stream into Washington and spark violent confrontations.

NEW YORK (AP) — Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant Wednesday as she called out to the world “even as we grieved, we grew” in her poem “The Hill We Climb.” In language referencing Biblical scripture and at times echoing the oratory of John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the 22-year-old Gorman began by asking “Where can we find light/In this never-ending shade?” and used her own poetry and life story as an answer. The poem’s very title suggested both labor and transcendence. Gorman is the youngest by far of the poets who have read at presidential inaugurations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The highest-ranking Black member of Congress says former President George W. Bush lauded his role as a “savior” in helping get President Joe Biden elected to the White House. U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Wednesday on a call with reporters that the former president told him ahead of the inaugural ceremony that, if he had not given Biden the boost he did ahead of South Carolina’s primary, “we would not be having this transfer of power today.” Clyburn says Bush also said Biden was “the only one who could have defeated the incumbent president.” Clyburn’s pivotal endorsement ahead of South Carolina’s Democratic primary helped propel Biden to the nomination.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris showcased American designers at their inauguration Wednesday. Harris made a nod to women’s suffrage and Shirley Chisholm in pearls and purple. Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush also wore hues of purple. Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black major-party candidate to run for president. Harris has cited her as an inspiration. Jill Biden wore an ocean-blue wool tweed coat over a dress by American designer Alexandra O’Neill of the Markarian label. Joe Biden wore a navy blue suit and overcoat by Ralph Lauren. Singer Garth Brooks wore jeans and a cowboy hat. And a relative of Harris wore designer sneakers.