What Went Down During Joe Biden’s Inauguration

Biden quotes Lincoln, saying, “My whole soul is in it.” “It” being uniting America.

Biden doesn’t wait long to reference the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, saying that despite that, “we come together as one nation under God” to carry out the peaceful transfer of power. And as we’ve already discussed on this live blog, it’s not actually clear whether today really qualifies as a peaceful transfer of power, considering thousands of National Guard troops have to stand guard at the Capitol to carry out this change in administration.

As Biden begins his inaugural address, he notes that “the will of the people has been heard” and situates the election in the struggle that ensued afterward. These addresses are sometimes more ceremonial and avoid references to elections or mandates. But not always — Clinton talked about the 1992 election and said the electorate had “raised their voices in an unmistakable chorus.”