Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in on Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States of America.
Swearing the oath with his hand on a five-inch (12.7 cm)-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Biden came to office with a depth of experience forged from more than four decades in Washington. At age 78, he is the oldest president inaugurated.
At the Capitol city of Washington D.C., the inauguration ceremony unfolded within a circle of security forces and devoid of crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, over 200,000 American flags were planted on the National Mall to symbolize those who could not attend in person.
Among the guests were three former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Vice President Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in a few minutes earlier than Biden. Ms. Harris thus became the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second highest office.
Many inaugural customs were scrapped because of the virus, including a lunch with congressional leaders in Statuary Hall, a full-scale parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the gala evening balls where the new president and his wife typically dance.
After the inauguration, Biden, Harris and their spouses walked the last short part of the route to the White House.
In November 2020, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, on behalf of the people and the Government of Turkmenistan, as well as on his own behalf, sent congratulations to Joseph Biden on his election as U.S. President.
Joe Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science. In 1968, Biden earned a Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University College of Law in New York City.
Biden first arrived in Washington as a young upstart. He was elected in 1972 at age 29 to the U.S. Senate from the state of Delaware and remained there for 36 years before serving from 2009 to 2017 as Vice President under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president.