Biden becomes 46th president

US President Joe Biden delivers his Inauguration speech after being sworn in as the 46th US President on Wednesday. (AFP photo)
US President Joe Biden delivers his Inauguration speech after being sworn in as the 46th US President on Wednesday. (AFP photo)

Joe Biden on Wednesday took office as the 46th president of the United States with a call for unity.

On a cold but sunny day at the Capitol building that was assaulted on Jan 6, Biden was sworn in moments after Kamala Harris became America's first woman vice president, ending Donald Trump's four years.

Biden -- vice president for eight years under Barack Obama -- appealed to supporters of Trump.

"I will be a president for all Americans," the Democrat said.

At 78, Biden is the oldest-ever US president, a job he first sought in 1987.

Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, became the highest-ranking woman in US history and the first person of colour as the nation's number two.

With the public barred from attending due to the pandemic, Biden's audience at the National Mall instead was 200,000 flags planted to represent the absent crowds.

Lady Gaga sang the national anthem and Jennifer Lopez sang a pop rendition of "This Land is Your Land," often considered the unofficial US national anthem.

The new first lady, Jill Biden, invited a 22-year-old poet, Amanda Gorman, who became a star of the day with verse on how democracy "can never be permanently defeated."

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Vocabulary

  • absent: without; not including, not present - ขาด
  • bar: to officially not allow someone to do something or go somewhere - ห้าม
  • democracy (noun): a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives - การปกครองแบบประชาธิปไตย
  • immigrant: a person who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently - ผู้อพยพ, คนย้ายถิ่น
  • national anthem: the official national song of a country - เพลงชาติ
  • poet (noun): a person who writes poems - กวี
  • sworn in: when someone gives a formal promise at an official ceremony, especially at the beginning of an important job - สาบานตนเข้ารับตำแหน่ง, กล่าวคำปฏิญาณเพื่อรับตำแหน่งหน้าที่
  • vice- (pref): the second person in charge of and managing an organization - รอง
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