President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing in will look very different compared to past inaugurations as precautions around security and the ongoing pandemic dramatically scale back a normally grand affair. Here’s what coming today.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman speaks at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today’s inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775612666
Rob Carr, Getty
Following in the footsteps of Maya Angelou and Robert Frost, Amanda Gorman wrote her way into history Wednesday with her performance at the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Unlike Frost who was 86 when he became the first poet to speak at the presidential inaugural in 1961 or Angelou, who was 64 when she spoke at the 1993 inaugural, Gorman is just 22 the youngest poet to speak at a presidential inauguration.
It was an unusual inauguration in many respects.
The National Mall that is usually teeming with spectators was mostly empty due to heightened security measures put in place following the recent insurrection and Covid-19 restrictions. In their place, 200,000 small flags were planted on the Mall to represent the number of Americans who couldn’t attend the inauguration. On the steps of the Capitol, dignitaries and lawmakers wore masks and were spaced six feet apart.
Biden took the oath of office and gave his address on the steps of a building that still bears the scars of a violent insurrection that took place two weeks ago, as supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the legislative process of confirming Biden’s electoral votes. The violence in the Capitol claimed at least five lives, including two US Capitol Police officers.