DALLAS — Some Americans breathed a big sigh of relief on Tuesday.
Some are now holding their breath, worried about the next four years.
A transition of power means something different to every individual.
But in his first address to the nation after taking the oath of office, President Joe Biden urged Americans who didn’t vote for him to give him a chance.
“Hear me out,” Biden said to those who voted for former President Donald Trump.
“Take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it. That's democracy. That's America. The right to dissent peaceably. Within the guardrails of our republic it’s perhaps this nation's greatest strength. Yet hear me clearly, disagreement must not lead to disunion.”
Biden’s speech included the word “unity” at least nine times and the word “together” at least six times, but he admitted calling for unity “can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days.”
Biden takes office at a precarious time in America’s history.
He cannot magically rid the country of COVID, give jobs to millions out of work, cure centuries of racism, or erase deep-seeded hate.
But he called on Americans to show tolerance and humility and see one another not as adversaries, but as neighbors.
“Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path,” he said.
“Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”
“We must end this uncivil war,” he said.
If Americans will follow him, Biden pledged to lead the nation away from deeply divided and closer to peacefully united.
“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge,” Biden said. “Unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.”