Joe Biden delivered his inaugural address under difficult circumstances. The nation was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down many American businesses and institutions, drove people into their homes, and inundated the nation’s health-care system. Additionally, the nation was sharply divided by the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Although Biden handily won both the popular vote and the Electoral College, each candidate won twenty-five states, and outgoing president Donald Trump, along with many of his supporters, was vocal in his belief that the election was marred by fraud, uncounted votes, and other irregularities, and that Biden was thus an illegitimate president.