Picture: Andrew Harnik/AP

On Saturday morning, November 7th at 11:30am EST, Joseph R. Biden was announced the winner of the election to become the 46th president of the United States, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump.  Since Tuesday, November 3rd, the whole world has been anxiously watching the news as each state continued their ballot counting.  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had a record number of mail-in or absentee ballots. As long as the ballots were received or postmarked by the state’s deadline, the state was obliged to count the ballot.  A majority of states had called their winner by Tuesday but several swing states where the tally was too close could not call their winner for several more days.  

Although not all votes have been technically counted in every state, Biden’s electoral count surpassed the 270 votes needed this morning when he won the state of Pennsylvania.  President Trump and his campaign have yet to concede the election, claiming election fraud and filing campaign lawsuits.

Biden’s victory today is the climax of 77 years of personal trial and tribulation. Overcoming a childhood stutter, the tragic death of his first wife and baby daughter, two former failed presidential races, and the death of his son to cancer in 2015, our new president-elect was relatable to many suffering Americans right now.  The victory is historic because America will now have its first ever female, first ever Black and first ever South Asian Vice President. 

Addressing the crowd gathered in his hometown of Wilmington Delaware tonight for his victory speech, Biden promised to unite Americans whether or not they voted for him. “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, but only sees the United States.”  He went on, “For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.”

President-elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021 and he will have many challenges to deal with. As former President Barack Obama put it, “When he walks into the White House in January, he’ll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has — a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril. I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote.”