After all of these years, I most remember the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
Our class at Glasgow Elementary School in Baton Rouge, La., watched the event on television, hearing our new leader with his Boston accent herald the rise of a new generation with the stirring words, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
Kennedy was 43 years old, taking over from the aged Republican Dwight Eisenhower. Our new president, Joe Biden, is 78, a member of a generation that has been in power in Washington for three decades.
Yet, after the devastation of the Trump years, today feels like a new beginning for the country.
Kamala Harris, our new vice president, sets a historic legacy and holds the standard for a new America.
Biden has announced an ambitious agenda to tackle problems neglected during years of stalemate.
The times are daunting, with the country torn by political turmoil and losing thousands a day to the Covid epidemic.
After many years of joy and sorrow, Joe Biden's hour has come. Like Kennedy, he's uplifted by his Irish heritage and Catholic faith. As on that bitterly cold day in 1961, the nation begins a new chapter.
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