Beyond the Headlines: an unprecedented presidential handover

Joe Biden promises major shift in US politics as he embarks on his four-year term

On January, 20, 2021, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

Mr Biden came to power breaking records and making history. He received more votes than any other president in history, beating Barack Obama’s record.

At 78, he is the oldest president to be sworn in, breaking Donald Trump’s record. And he is the first president to have a female vice president, Kamala Harris.

At the same time, Mr Trump leaves the White House having made history as the only president to have been impeached twice.

We talk to Dr Lindsay Chervinsky, presidential historian and scholar at the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies in New York state, and Bryant Harris, The National's correspondent in Washington, about how unusual this presidential handover was.