Joe Biden has been sworn in as the president of the United States.
He becomes the 46th president, taking over from Donald Trump who presided the country for only four years.
He was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony in Washington DC, which was attended by previous and current leaders in the US.
John G. Roberts, chief justice of the United States, administered the oath of office on him.
Kamala Harris was also sworn in as the vice-president, becoming the first female and first black American to occupy the position.
Trump was absent from the inauguration, a move many believe was a protest against his electoral loss.
He departed the White House earlier on Wednesday, without ever acknowledging Biden’s victory.
Trump won’t be the first to miss his successor’s inauguration though. He follows in the footsteps of Andrew Johnson and John Adams, both of whom had similar clashes with incoming presidents.
Biden defeated him in the November 3 election with 81,283,098 votes after flipping some Republican strongholds, leaving the ex-president with 74,222,958 votes.
On December 14, 2020, the electoral college voted just as the states’ ballot went, handing Biden the 306 votes while Trump got 232 votes.
But despite numerous losses in the courts where he sought to overturn the election outcome without any evidence of fraud, Trump had insisted that he defeated Biden with “a landslide”.
Among those who graced the inauguration was Mike Pence, former vice-president who Trump vilified for refusing to void Biden’s electoral victory during its certification by the senate.
Biden became president about 50 years after he began his political career as a member of the New Castle county council in Delaware, his home state.
