The Beginning of the biden-harris era: by the numbers

by ANDI EGBERT | Jan. 20, 2021 | 11:45 a.m. CST

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office at noon Eastern time on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Here’s a quick data primer on the United States’ two top new leaders and their inauguration, which was unlike any other in American history.

President Joe Biden: By the Numbers

46: Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. became our nation’s 46th president as he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2021.

2: Number of times Biden unsuccessfully ran for president previously, in 1988 and 2008. (Source: New York Times)

78: Biden’s age, making him the oldest U.S. president ever at swearing in. (Public record)

36: Years Biden served in Congress, from 1973 until 2009, as a Senator for Delaware, until he resigned to serve two terms as vice president to President Barack Obama. (Source: New York Times)

17: Number of executive orders Biden has said he will sign on his first day as President. (Source: CBS News, Biden-Harris Transition Team).

40: Percentage of Biden’s proposed Cabinet members who identify as people of color. Cabinet members have not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. (Source: Brookings)

33: Percentage of Biden’s proposed Cabinet members who identify as women, the highest share of the last seven administrations. Cabinet members have not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. (Source: Brookings)

43: Years Biden has been married to Dr. Jill Biden, his second wife and mother to their daughter Ashley. She holds a Doctorate in Education and two Master’s degrees. Jill is a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College and a lifelong educator. (Source: Obama White House Archives)

4: Number of children Biden has fathered, from his two marriages, although only two are surviving: Hunter (age 50) and Ashley (age 39). Biden’s older son, Joseph “Beau,” died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. Biden’s 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, died in a 1972 car crash along with his first wife, Neilia. (Source: Harper’s Bazaar)

7: Number of grandchildren Biden has, ranging in age from 26 to less than one year. (Source: Town & Country Magazine)

2: Dogs that will live in the White House: German shepherds Major and Champ. On Jan. 17, the Delaware Humane Association (DHA) and Pumpkin Pet Insurance held a virtual “Indoguration” event for Major, a rescue dog that Biden adopted from DHA. The event raised more than $200,000 for the association. (Source: People)

24.4 million: Biden’s Twitter follower count (@JoeBiden), as of the morning of Jan. 20, 2021. Biden took the reins of the government Twitter account @POTUS (“President of the U.S.”) at 12:01 pm on Inauguration Day, with all followers from @PresElectBiden migrated there. The Twitter history of @POTUS during Trump’s tenure was removed from the feed but will be preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration. (Sources: Twitter, MarketWatch)

70,166: Population in Joe Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Del., where he gave a tearful address at a send-off event on Jan. 19. (Note: He lived in Wilmington most of his life, but he was born in Scranton, Penn.) (Source: U.S. Census)

Vice President Kamala Devi Harris: By the Numbers

1: Kamala Harris is our nation’s first woman to serve as vice president, and the first Black and Asian American vice president. Her father immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica, while her mother immigrated from India. Harris herself was born in California. (Source: Biden-Harris Transition Team)

56: Harris’s age. (Source: U.S. Senate)

2: Number of children Harris has: Cole (26) and Ella (21). Both are step-children from Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff’s first marriage. (Source: New York Times, ibid)

4: Years Harris served in Congress, beginning in 2017 as a U.S. Senator for California. She resigned on Jan. 18. California Governor Gavin Newsom has tapped Alex Padilla to take her place in the Senate (Source: The Hill, NPR)

350: Population of the village of Thulasendrapuram in southern India, where Harris’s maternal grandmother was born. (Source: AP)

50-50: The balance of power in the U.S. Senate between the Republicans and the Democrats (including the two Independent Senators who caucus with them), making Vice President Harris the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. (Source: APM Research Lab)

About the inauguration

128: Age of the family Bible on which Joe Biden laid his hand while reciting the oath of office. (Source: New York Times, ibid)

25: Number of times Biden said “America,” the most common word in his inaugural address. (Source: NPR, ABC News via Voyant Tools)

22: Age of Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, who read her new work, “The Hill We Climb,” at the inauguration. (Source: New York Times)

1869: The last time an outgoing President has skipped the inauguration of his successor, as President Trump did to President Biden. President Andrew Johnson similarly snubbed President Ulysses S. Grant. However, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence did attend the inauguration. (Source: Time)

20,000+: National Guard members on hand to provide safety during the inauguration. The number of guests present at the inauguration was historically low because of security concerns. (Source: CNN)

1,800: Number of hand-drawn 12-inch square tiles submitted to make a kolam, a traditional South Indian art form used as a sign of welcome, assembled in the capital to honor the the new vice president and president. (Source: NPR)

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