Washington: On Wednesday, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. Kamala Harris, daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, also took oath as the new Vice President. Kamala has written a new chapter in American history by becoming the first African-American as well as the first Asian-American to be elected to this position.

In his opening statement, Biden said, “Here we stand days after a riotous mob thought they could silence the will of the people. It will not happen, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.” He pledged to be honest with the country as it continues to confront difficulties, saying leaders had an obligation to “defend the truth and defeat the lies”.

Saying there was “no time to waste”, Biden signed a slew of orders to “change the course” - mainly concerning climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and advanced racial equity. He also lifted the travel ban on 13 Muslim-majority and African countries. 

More significantly, Biden ordered halting of construction of the US-Mexico border wall and directed officials to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), among other things.

Earlier on Wednesday, Biden’s predecessor President Donald Trump walked out of the White House, leaving behind a legacy of chaos which bitterly divided the nation. During his 4-year-tenure, millions of people went out of work, 400,000 died from Coronavirus and the US Capitol riots led to the death of 4 persons.

The 46th US presidential elections held in November 2020 observed overwhelming support for Joe Biden with 93% of votes while Trump received less than 5.4% of votes which is fewer than 18,600 ballots.

In a media interaction, Biden disclosed that his predecessor had written him a “generous” letter before departing from Washington D.C. “The president wrote a very generous letter. Because it was private, I won’t talk about it until I talk to him. But it was generous,” he said.

After the inauguration ceremony, Vice President Harris tweeted "I am here today because of the women who came before me. And to the woman most responsible for my presence here today - my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts.” 

Harris’ rise to the country's second-highest office is seen as a milestone in the long struggle for gender and racial justice across the world.

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