WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- At an unusual inauguration closed to public due to the still raging coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday at the West Front of the Capitol, which was breached two weeks ago by violent protesters trying to overturn his election victory.

Under the gaze of National Guard troops standing beneath the Capitol steps facing the reflection pool to guard the security for the ceremony, Biden took his oath of office administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, putting his hand on a 127-year-old family Bible.

Biden said in his inauguration speech that his "whole soul is in" unifying a nation torn apart by the many challenges that need to be overcome, urging the American people to come together at a "historic moment of crisis."

"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward," Biden said, referencing a "once-in-a-century virus" pandemic that took over 400,000 lives, as well as the existence of a "cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making."

"To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity," Biden said.

Moments before Biden's swearing-in, Kamala Harris was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the 49th vice president of the United States, becoming the first female and woman of color to hold the nation's second-highest office. Enditem

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