Hours before they are set to take the helm of a country in crisis, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris plan to honor the nearly 400,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 at a lighting ceremony in Washington on Tuesday.
Let us honor democracy by coming together this inauguration (Commentary)
Updated Jan 19, 2021;
Posted Jan 19, 2021
A crowd on the National Mall listen to the inaugural address of President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. AP
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By Francis Conole | Special to Syracuse.com
Francis Conole is an Iraq War veteran, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a former policy adviser to the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon, and served on President Obama’s Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. He is also a
in New York’s 24th District.
In 2009, I served on President Barack Obama’s Armed Forces Inaugural Committee and had the honor of being a part of this historic inauguration. This week, as our country prepares to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, our nation is on edge as Washington has been fortified with unprecedented security following the deadly attack on our U.S. Capitol. As I reflect
Data: CSSE Johns Hopkins University; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/AxiosOver 400,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the U.S. as of Tuesday, per Johns Hopkins data.Why it matters: It only took a little over a month for the U.S. to reach this mass casualty after 300,000 COVID deaths were reported last month. That's over 100,000 fatalities in 36 days.Get smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here. The grave loss of life also comes on the eve of Joe Biden's inauguration — Trump's final full day in office — and underscores the magnitude of the crisis that his administration will inherit. He has tried to prepare the country for "a very, very, very dark winter," as described by incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain.What they're saying: “One in every 820 people in our country have died during this pandemic — often alone, typically away from fa