President Joseph R. Biden Jr

On a chilly January afternoon in 2021, amidst profound national turmoil, Joseph R. Biden Jr. stood on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, placed his hand on a hefty family Bible held by his wife Jill, and took the oath of office to become the 46th President of the United States. The scene was starkly different from inaugurations past: the National Mall was largely empty, save for flags representing absent spectators, a precaution due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Just two weeks earlier, the very Capitol steps where Biden now stood had been the site of violent insurrection. Now, as the oldest man ever to assume the presidency at 78, Biden addressed a nation in pain and disarray. He spoke of unity, of restoring the “soul of America,” and of overcoming the cascading crises at hand—pandemic, economic collapse, p ...