Daily Times

President-elect Joe Biden will take the stage for his inaugural address at perhaps the most difficult starting point for a president since Franklin Roosevelt began his first term by assuring a nation scarred by the Great Depression that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” But memorable turns of phrase like Roosevelt´s are more the exception than the rule when it comes to inaugural addresses. Former President Barack Obama in his memoir noted that singer Aretha Franklin´s showy hat and a glitch in Chief Justice John Roberts’ administration of the oath of office got more attention than his speech in the days following the first Black president´s address, delivered as the nation was mired in recession and a growing malaise over two intractable wars. Now, with the coronavirus raging, unemployment claims soaring and partisan divisions sharpening, Biden faces a fraught moment as he prepares to deliver a speech that aides say he wants to use to “call Americans to unity.”