It’s the “Great day of democracy”, as Jim Bendat, historian and author of Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of our President 1789-2013 (iUniverse, 2013, untranslated), a book that looks back on more than two hundred years of investiture of the presidents of the United States. A ritual which is part of the celebration, the spectacle and the ceremony.
The date and time are fixed by article 1er from 20e amendment to the Constitution, which states that “The mandates of the president and vice-president end at noon on January 20”. Every four years, it takes place on the steps of Congress, facing west, and the lawns of the National Mall in Washington. Hundreds of thousands of spectators brave the cold and flock there to witness the peaceful and courteous transfer of power between the outgoing president and his successor.
But this year, the course of the 59e investiture ceremony of 46e president – some of them have served more than one term – has been shattered. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States, the attitude of outgoing President Donald Trump, and the risk of actions by his supporters, the ceremony will be held as part of a sanitary and security cordon.
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Double threat on the nomination
As early as December 2020, the organizing committee of the nomination warned that due to Covid-19, it would be difficult to attend this ceremony in person. Most of the events will be held virtually, without an audience, like the Democratic convention, in August.
After the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, police stepped up warnings and said threats of further armed attacks from far-right groups were real. Nearly 25,000 soldiers, National Guard reservists – five times the number of US servicemen currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan – were mobilized to protect the event.
The president-elect, Joe Biden, and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, will be invested in a capital transformed into an entrenched camp, with blocked roads, with a meshed Mall in a perimeter squared by agents of the Secret Service, the FBI, police came from all over the country in addition to army reservists.
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In fact, the National Mall, a huge esplanade leading from the Lincoln Monument to the Capitol, will be closed to the public. Instead, a field of some 200,000 flags will represent citizens who were unable to make the trip.
Under these conditions, the ceremony may be the smallest since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt. By January 1945, a few thousand people had participated in and around the White House due to the President’s declining health and the continuation of World War II.
A light ceremony
For Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the real fun will start around 11:30 a.m. in Washington (5:30 p.m. in Paris). They will be surrounded by former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, their respective wives as well as members of Congress, who will have the right to one guest each. And they will hear the national anthem, The Star-Splangled Banner, sung by popstar Lady Gaga, followed by a musical performance by Latina singer Jennifer Lopez and country artist Garth Brooks and a short prayer.
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Then, as tradition dictates – this is a custom, not an obligation – Joe Biden will take the oath with his hand on the Bible held by Supreme Court President John Roberts at noon and will pronounce the ritual formula: ” I swear [ou affirme] solemnly that I will loyally discharge the office of President of the United States and that to the best of my ability, I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. “ Moments earlier, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will have been sworn in before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
A speech to turn the page Trump
After the swearing-in, the new president will deliver a speech which should contrast with that delivered by Donald Trump on January 20, 2017. At the time, the latter drew up so “The dark portrait of a country haunted by job losses and the threat of terrorists and immigrants (…). This American carnage stops here and now ”. Four years later, and two weeks after scenes of riot in the same place, Joe Biden owes it to himself to deliver a speech “for history” in a country divided by the election, ravaged by a pandemic which plunged millions of them in economic desperation.
Traditionally, it is after this speech that the new president accompanies the old one to the Marine One helicopter which takes him to his new life. But not this year. After the speech, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will review the troops before a snack, as lunch with members of Congress has been canceled due to health risks.
In the early afternoon, Joe Biden will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington (Virginia) cemetery accompanied by three of his predecessors. On the way back, the convoy will stop a few hundred yards from the White House and a virtual parade supposed to represent “The diversity, heritage and resilience of the country” will accompany Joe Biden, on foot, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
A bouquet of stars to end the evening
The rest of the festivities will give pride of place to the virtual. Instead of balls in which the president and his wife come to thank and raise funds from generous donors, Americans will have to make do with a television program called Celebrating America.
Lasting ninety minutes, it will be hosted from 8:30 p.m. by actor Tom Hanks and broadcast on major channels and streaming. Unlike Donald Trump, Joe Biden is supported by a plethora of stars: the Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato and Justin Timberlake will perform and the whole will be punctuated by remarks from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
In denial, Donald Trump sulks
The big absentee will obviously be Donald Trump. In his last Tweet, on January 8, he wrote: “To all who have asked, I will not be attending the investiture ceremony on January 20. “ Donald Trump breaks with the custom that the outgoing President and the First Lady welcome the new presidential couple on the morning of January 20 and then all go to the Capitol. After disputing the outcome of the election, still not having acknowledged his defeat, he decided to leave Washington, a city that does not love him and that he has never loved.
Wednesday morning, it will join the air base of Andrews (Maryland), a few kilometers away. It was there that he scheduled a farewell ceremony open to a few of his supporters allowed to come with five guests. According to the American media, he would have asked for a red carpet, the presence of a military orchestra and an overflight by combat aircraft. He will then take off aboard Air Force One, bound for Florida and his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, accompanied by some of his relatives, such as his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
The invitation sent to staff for Trump’s departure to Florida at JBA Wednesday morning before Biden’s inauguration https://t.co/HtFp1cjk7X
Before him, only three outgoing presidents – John Adams in 1801, his son John Quincy Adams in 1829 and Andrew Johnson in 1869 – refused to attend the inauguration of their successor. Only Vice President Mike Pence will be present at the ceremony.
