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Biden's Rocky Road to Victory

Megan Duzor

   Democrat Joe Biden will realize the ultimate ambition of his lengthy
   political career on Wednesday when he takes the oath of office at the
   U.S. Capitol to become the 46th U.S. president.

   The theme of the inauguration will be "America United," reflecting the
   beginning of a "new national journey that restores the soul of America,
   brings the country together and creates a path to a brighter future,"
   according to the Biden-Harris inaugural committee.

   But it took the former vice president and senator from Delaware three
   tries before he finally won the presidency in November. And his final
   road to the White House proved to be rocky and strewn with
   unprecedented obstacles.

   Biden, 78, was faced with a coronavirus pandemic that sidelined much of
   his traditional campaigning and forced him to sequester in his Delaware
   home for much of the campaign.

   While touted as the early Democratic frontrunner, Biden stumbled from
   the start, delivering less-than-stellar debate performances and losing
   badly in early primary election contests. Finally, as his party's
   nominee, he was locked in a brutal general election campaign against
   Republican President Donald Trump, mocked by Trump as "sleepy Joe" and
   denounced for policies and his son's business dealings.

   Biden announced his candidacy on April 25, 2019 and he was considered
   the early front-runner in the Democratic nominating contest.

   From the early days of the campaign, however, the former vice president
   struggled to garner enthusiasm from voters and was soon overshadowed by
   larger personalities on the campaign trail. There were calls from some
   Democrats for the party to nominate a candidate who was younger, more
   liberal and who better represented the growing diversity of America.

   Biden was nearly counted out of the presidential race after losses in
   the first three nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada,
   where he placed 4th, 5th, and a distant second, respectively. However,
   top Democratic officials rallied behind Biden after his win in the
   South Carolina primary where he received strong support from African
   American voters and emerged as the clear moderate alternative to
   progressive candidate Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator.

   Just as it became clear in early March that Biden was again the strong
   front-runner for the Democratic nomination, his campaign was mostly
   grounded by the global coronavirus pandemic that unexpectedly and
   swiftly shut down much of the world.

   While Biden eventually returned to a modified campaign trail, he chose
   to convert many planned rallies to virtual or drive-in events during
   the general election, in which he faced off against Trump. The
   president did not make the same decision and continued to hold large,
   in-person events.

   The coronavirus also led to a large number of mail-in ballots for the
   November 3 election, which in conjunction with close races in several
   states, slowed down the vote tally and delayed the announcement of
   Biden as the winner for several days.

   President Trump used the delay to bolster his unsubstantiated claims of
   widespread voter fraud and continued to press his claims through the
   end of his term, culminating in January, when a mob of pro-Trump
   supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to delay the certification of
   Biden's win. The attack was an unprecedented assault on the seat of
   U.S. legislative power and led Biden to describe the mob as "domestic
   terrorists."

   Here's a timeline of key events:

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