Inauguration of Joe Biden
Inauguration
Day Morning Biden and his wife, Dr. Biden, will reside the night of January
19 at Blair House, the President's Guest House—a custom for incoming
presidents. Traditionally, the president-elect meets with the outgoing
president at the White House on the morning of their inauguration after a
church service. Since Trump is not attending Biden's ceremony and has not
communicated with him directly since the second presidential debate of the 2020
campaign, this tradition is unlikely to be upheld. Before both of his
inaugurations as vice president, Biden attended a Catholic mass celebrated by
Fr. Kevin O'Brien. In 2013, this service was at the vice president's residence.
Biden and his wife, along with the
second family will attend mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington. Biden extended invitations to the four
congressional leaders from both parties—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)—and all
four accepted.
"Our
White House" Online Event Beginning two hours before the outset of the
inaugural ceremony, actress Keke Palmer will host Our White House: An Inaugural
Celebration for Young Americans, a livestream aimed at engaging youth in the
day's events. Dr. Biden will address
viewers in a pre-recorded message, and historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and
Erica Armstrong Dunbar will discuss the ceremony's significance; a Nickelodeon
special on White House pets and PBS NewsHour student interviews will air, along
with other curated educational content.
Inaugural Events
COVID-19 Public
Health Measures Most traditional inaugural festivities will be conducted
virtually, primarily modeled after the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The
ceremony will take place outdoors on the West Front of the United States
Capitol, the site of every inauguration since Ronald Reagan's in 1981. While
members of Congress, in previous years, would receive 200,000 tickets to
distribute among constituents, on this occasion, each member will be allotted
one guest ticket. Only around 3,000
people are to be permitted into the secure perimeter areas, and the total live
attendance for the scaled-down event will be just over 1,000 people. The decision to limit attendance was made by
the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies based on consultation with public
health experts. According to historian
Jim Bendat, COVID-19 prevention and security measures instituted for Biden's
inauguration could make it the smallest ceremony since Franklin D. Roosevelt's
fourth inauguration in 1945, when the inaugural was held at the White House
before an audience of just a thousand people due to Roosevelt's poor health and
the ongoing world war.
Ceremony The
U.S. Army Herald Trumpets will play ruffles and flourishes. The U.S. Marine
Band (nicknamed "The President's Own") will play a medley of
patriotic music by Sousa, Bagley, and others; herald the entry of dignitaries
to the inaugural platform; and perform "Hail, Columbia" (the official
anthem of the vice president) after Harris is sworn in, and "Hail to the
Chief" (the official anthem of the president) after Biden is sworn in. The
band has appeared at every presidential inauguration since Thomas Jefferson's
in 1801.
Outgoing Vice
President Mike Pence will attend the ceremony but outgoing President Donald
Trump will not. Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack
Obama, along with respective first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and
Michelle Obama, will attend, while former President Jimmy Carter and former
First Lady Rosalynn Carter will not, as they are unable to travel.
Senator Roy
Blunt, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, will
serve as the inauguration's master of ceremonies. Leo J. O'Donovan, a Catholic
priest, member of the Jesuit order, and former president of Georgetown
University, will deliver the invocation. Georgia firefighters' union leader
Andrea Hall will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, Lady Gaga will sing the
national anthem, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman will recite her
poem "The Hill We Climb", and Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks will
perform. At 22, Gorman will become the
youngest inaugural poet. Rev. Dr. Silvester Beaman, pastor of Bethel AME Church
in Wilmington, Delaware, and a friend of Biden, will deliver the benediction.
Biden will be
sworn in on a Bible, held by his wife, that has been in his family since
1893—the same one he used during his senatorial and vice presidential
swearing-in ceremonies. The Bible is large—5 inches (12.7 cm) thick—and has a
Celtic cross on the front. Harris will be sworn in on two Bibles held by her
husband, one belonging to Regina Shelton, a person important to her and her
sister Maya Harris, and another belonging to former Supreme Court Associate
Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Oaths of Office
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor will administer the oath of office to
Harris. Sotomayor will become the first woman to administer an inaugural oath twice
after she administered Biden's at his 2013 swearing-in. She will recite the
following: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and
that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I
am about to enter. [So help me God.] Harris was sworn into the Senate by
then-outgoing Vice President Biden on January 3, 2017.
Chief Justice
John Roberts will then administer Biden's oath of office. He will recite the
following, as prescribed by the Constitution: I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States. [So help me God.]
Upon completing
the oath, the U.S. Army Band ("Pershing's Own") will play four
ruffles and flourishes and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment's Presidential Salute
Battery will render a 21-gun cannon salue before Biden delivers his inaugural
address. The presidential nuclear football, which can authorize a nuclear attack
while away from a command center, is discreetly given to military aides of the
new administration during the ceremony; however, Trump's absence will not
change the automatic deactivation of his and Pence's nuclear access and
activation of Biden and Harris's.
Inaugural Address
Biden's speech will “[lay] out his vision to beat [COVID-19], build back
better, and bring the country together,” according to his inaugural committee.
Biden composed the speech with the assistance of speechwriter Vinay Reddy,
senior advisor Mike Donilon, incoming Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and
chief of staff Ron Klain.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.