Hi, I'm Dan Pramette and welcome to Axios Recap.

Today is Wednesday, January 20th.

Joe Biden is in, Donald Trump is out, and we're focused on inauguration day.

Joseph Robinette Biden became America's 46th president earlier today, and Kamala Harris,

the country's vice president, in an inauguration unlike any other in modern history.

No outgoing president in attendance, more soldiers than supporters, a mall full of flags, not families.

For Biden, it was the recognition of an ambition he first revealed more than 30 years ago during the first of his three presidential campaigns.

For the country, it's a new chapter.

So we want to dig into what Biden said in his speech and what comes next, with a special

Axios panel conversation

with political reporters Hans Nichols and Alexi McCamond.

Alexi, let me start with you.

Was this speech basically what you expected from Biden or were there any surprises in it?

Yeah.

I mean, what we've seen from Biden is compassion and empathy and a focus on unity

in a way that we certainly haven't seen from President Trump in the wake of the coronavirus

pandemic.

And in a way that we saw Joe Biden really center his campaign on before he was even elected

president.

So what we saw today is not just a nod to those moments on the campaign trail

leading up to inauguration, but how we can sort of imagine him to govern moving forward in a way

that is more stable than what we've seen in the past, and also in a way that is more clear-eyed

...