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Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, becoming the first Syracuse University graduate to hold the position. 

Biden, 78, spoke shortly before noon, characterizing the U.S. as a country in peril but capable of healing and unity. 

“We’ll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities — much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain,” Biden said.

Wednesday’s inauguration marks the end of a rocky transfer of power from former President Donald Trump. Trump falsely alleged for months that massive voter fraud had taken place in the 2020 election and incited the deadly insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, in which hundreds of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building.

Biden graduated from SU’s College of Law in 1968 and has maintained connections with the university throughout his political career.

The president was sworn in at 11:50 a.m. by Chief Justice John Roberts. He took his oath using a 127-year-old, 5-inch-thick family Bible held by his wife, Jill Biden. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, a former senator and the first female, Black and Asian American person to serve in the role, was sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina member of the Supreme Court.

The president spent much of his address challenging the polarized, uncivil nature of politics in recent years and calling for a renewed respect for truth.

“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path,” Biden said. “Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.” 

Biden, along with other speakers at the inauguration, condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Unlike past inaugurations where presidents have championed the country as a beacon of democracy, Biden instead painted a more fragile picture. 

“Here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground,” Biden said. “It did not happen. It will not happen, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

The 1968 SU Law School grad was the keynote speaker for the university’s 2009 commencement and has spoken at several law school convocations. Daily Orange File Photo

The president’s speech, which lasted about 20 minutes, also briefly addressed systematic racism, climate change, economic hardship, white supremacy and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Biden also led a moment of silent prayer for more than 400,000 Americans who have died due to the coronavirus pandemic. The National Mall was largely empty of people during the inauguration, filled instead by 200,000 flags. 

During his campaign for president, Biden promised to “build back better”, restoring the economy following the coronavirus pandemic and healing political division in the country. He will sign multiple executive orders following the inauguration. 

Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all attended the ceremony, as did outgoing vice president Mike Pence. Donald Trump neglected to attend the inauguration of his successor, the first outgoing president to do so since Andrew Johnson in 1869. The former president left the White House early Wednesday morning and headed to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. 

Biden served as a Delaware senator for 36 years before he was elected in 2008 to serve as the 44th vice president alongside Obama. He served another term as vice president to Obama in 2012.

He was the commencement speaker for the SU College of Law in 2006 and the keynote speaker during SU’s 2009 commencement ceremony.

Biden visited campus again in 2015 to speak about preventing sexual assault and domestic violence on college campuses as part of the “It’s On Us” campaign, which Biden and Obama had created in 2014.

The president made his most recent visit to SU in 2016, when he delivered another commencement address to the College of Law. During this speech, he spoke about his son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in May 2015. Beau Biden graduated from SU’s College of Law in 1994 and delivered the college’s commencement address in 2011.

In November 2019, Biden said he was “deeply disturbed” by a series of racist incidents that occurred on and near campus last fall.

The U.S. has been tested, Biden said Wednesday. But he believes the country will be stronger as a result.

“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words,” Biden said. “It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”

Published on January 20, 2021 at 12:50 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3