Nebraskans reflect on the inauguration of Joe Biden

“I don’t like the division in politics,” said the 21-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student and activist, who helped lead Black Lives Matter protests this summer and has announced plans to run for the Lincoln City Council.

She didn’t support either Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris during the election, but considered Biden the “lesser of two evils” and was heartened that many of the activists she respects support him.

The Washington, D.C., native didn’t like Harris’ record as a prosecutor, but seeing a Black, Asian American woman being sworn in as vice president “almost made me tear up,” she said.

“It’s nice knowing that young people have an example and a role model to look up to."

This is the first presidential election Liu-Sang is old enough to have participated in, and she’s willing to give Biden a chance, despite his support of issues over the years she disagrees with, especially the 1994 crime bill.

He’s older now, had years of experience to learn from, she said, and he has an opportunity to "right the wrongs" of the past president.

“I feel like this is his chance to use what he knows is right and try to help heal our country,” she said. 

— Margaret Reist

She was there when the crew arrived early the next morning. And when Biden’s sister showed up, and when Biden himself arrived late in the afternoon.

“He was just a genuinely nice guy,” said McCullough, a watershed science extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Super unpretentious.”

She posed for a picture with him on the front steps — an exciting opportunity to be part of history.

Her Irish-Catholic Democrat parents backed Biden early on.

“The caucus was the following January, and they never missed a chance to see him.”

And Biden never missed a chance to call out to Mary Jo and Charles: Hey, there’s the McCulloughs …

Biden didn’t fare well in the caucus, but he did become Barack Obama’s vice president. And McCullough joined her parents as a loyal supporter.

“Although, I would have to say it was a little painful during his vice presidential era to watch ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

But it wasn’t painful this week.

McCullough joined friends and her partner, Doug Dittman, at the Jayne Snyder Trails Center late Wednesday morning as Biden took the oath of office.

Her parents watched at home on the farm, her 82-year-old mother, a retired social worker who’d knocked on doors before the pandemic and set up a small socially distanced phone bank in the dining room and home office, pleased as could be.

The daughter felt emotions bubble up, too, mostly happiness, as she listened to the new president's message of unity.

“I had been kind of holding my breath,” she said. “There was just like this sense of relief that there was a peaceful transition. The whole ball of wax was really fun.”

— Cindy Lange-Kubick

Wagner said we'll see how it goes.

He said he listened to President Trump's farewell address Tuesday night and watched him board Air Force One on Wednesday morning as he got ready for work. He didn't stop his day to watch Biden sworn in or look into when it would happen. 

"It's a normal workday and not at the top of my priority list," he said.

Asked how he feels about America today, Wagner paused for a moment, then said: "I'm confident America will rise above all the difficulties we've had lately and we'll move forward."

He said in 2020, it seemed like every issue was divisive. Even COVID-19, a shared fight, became a fight between those supporting mask wearing and those seeing it as a violation of their civil liberties.

"I hope that every issue that comes up this year isn't so divisive," the sheriff said. 

— Lori Pilger

"I hope that that translates to more vaccines in the arms of people in Lincoln as soon as possible," the mayor said. 

Vaccines are the way out of the pandemic and will help the economy recover, and in Biden's inaugural address and leading up to Wednesday, he has impressed the Democratic mayor, she said.

Gaylor Baird carved a few minutes out between meetings Wednesday to take in the swearing-in of Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden, along with the president's inaugural address. 

Tuesday night, the mayor and mother of three teared up hearing references to the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, as it sank in that a woman would hold the office of vice president, she said.

Gaylor Baird, the city's third female mayor, said she's overjoyed that her two daughters and girls across the country now can grow up with a fuller sense of possibility and promise.

"I’ve waited so long for a moment like this," she said. 

— Riley Johnson

Even though she is Nebraska's Democratic state chairwoman, Kleeb said she was viewing the proceedings away from her home in Hastings as an American who believes the country needs healing.

"I had a true sense of happiness," she said. "The promise of America has not been erased."

And this moment of healing comes at a time when "we have been isolated, distanced from our sense of community and friendships," Kleeb said, threatened, endangered and burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If she were to choose two words to sum up the event, she said, they would be "so beautiful." 

— Don Walton

“I was encouraged by his speech, the tenor, and I’m just looking forward to working with the administration,” said Wright, chairman of the 5,000-member Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. “Our hope is it will be immensely better than the previous administration.”

Tribal nations are sovereign, but they rely on the federal government to fulfill its trust and treaty responsibilities. Both sides need to work together, and that starts with strong leadership, Wright said.

But that didn’t happen under Donald Trump. “There was no emphasis in working with tribal nations as a whole, especially when it comes to respecting tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.”

He’s been encouraged by Biden’s words and actions, both in his campaign and in the weeks since he was elected.

“He’s done a very good job in reaching out to tribal leaders and Indian Country as a whole, to develop a policy and a plan for Indian Country.”

And the timing is critical. The threat of COVID-19 is intensifying on tribal nations, Wright said, and it’s exacerbated by underfunded federal programs and an inefficient Indian Health Service. The rollout of the vaccine hasn’t been delivered to Indian Country as promised, he said.

— Peter Salter

On Wednesday, I thought of standing next to actor Fess Parker at Carter’s inauguration, the last on the east side of the Capitol, as I watched, from my couch, Biden become the 46th president.

And I remembered how much I liked Biden, who after a few more encounters remembered me by name and would take a few minutes to chat with a 21-year-old kid from Nebraska.

That decent, caring man, whom I’ve followed for four decades, rose to his inaugural moment with grace, soul, heart and patriotism, addressing far greater strife than Carter faced 44 years ago.

The ceremony itself was far different, with no giant crowd, but that it was held at the building that I revere, and was honored to work in, was a healing restatement of the American enterprise after the Capitol’s desecration by the insurrectionist mob two weeks ago.

And, in an unexpected connection, I sang along with Garth Brooks on the last verse of “Amazing Grace,” marking an inauguration that will always have great meaning for me, just as the ceremony I attended in person.

— L. Kent Wolgamott

Outside the state Capitol, a few people walked peacefully carrying pro-Trump flags.

Security has been heightened at the state Capitol for several days after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop a ceremonial reading of the Electoral College votes.

In the weeks that followed, there were rumblings that the U.S. Capitol and state Capitols would be attacked on Jan. 20.

Over the weekend, the Nebraska State Patrol set up an operations center behind the Governor's Mansion in anticipation of planned protests or marches in all 50 state capitals that never materialized in Lincoln.

When state lawmakers reconvened this week, additional troopers were visible patrolling the hallways, and private security guards hired by the Nebraska Democratic Party were posted throughout the building.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened at the state Capitol, however, as a peaceful transfer of power took place in Washington.

— Chris Dunker

One of the areas where differences will be most stark is in economic policy. Biden will likely pursue policies that favor higher taxes, especially on wealthier people, and more regulation, especially when it comes to traditional energy industries such as oil and coal.

How those policies will affect Nebraska, which has done better than most of the rest of the nation over the past year, are yet to be seen, said Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Also unknown, he said, is whether President Biden will be able to slow the spread of COVID-19 and end the pandemic more quickly. A quicker end to the pandemic will mean a faster economic bounce-back.

When it comes to regulations, Thompson said there will be stricter regulation of traditional industries under Biden compared with Trump but less regulation of technology industries.

Trade restrictions, which have hit Nebraska agricultural hard, are likely to be more limited under Biden, Thompson said, and he believes there will be faster growth in the labor force and customer base because of greater legal immigration.

— Matt Olberding