Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. takes oath as 46th US President

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris took oath as first woman Vice President on Wednesday in a historic but scaled down ceremony under the unprecedented security umbrella of thousands of security personnel, who transformed the Capitol into a fortress to prevent any breach by pro-Trump extremists.

The 78-year-old veteran Democrat leader was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts at the West Front of the Capitol — the traditional location for presidential inaugural ceremonies where the deadly violence took place just two weeks ago.

The inauguration was held under the watch of more than 25,000 National Guards, who have transformed the capital into a garrison city, mainly because of the threat of more violent protests by the supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, who became the first president to skip his successor’s inauguration since Andrew Johnson in 1869. Outgoing US Vice President Mike Pence attended the ceremony.

Biden, who is the oldest president in American history, took the oath by placing his left hand on his 127-year-old family Bible, which was held by his wife, Jill Biden. He used the same Bible during his swearing in as vice president and seven times as senator from Delaware.