:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/WKTVOPUDJNGQLJU75GPDV7TOMU.jpg "The 5 traits that make Biden's first speech to the United States Congress unique")
The speech this Wednesday before the Congress of the president of USA, Joe Biden, was unique not only because the pandemic forced the chamber to be half empty, but because it was the first time that two women stood behind the podium and the first time in decades that a “survivor” was not designated in the event of an attack.
Biden spoke for exactly one hour, five minutes, and 12 seconds, according to CBS tally. He did it in the midst of great expectation: it was his first speech before both houses of Congress and just tomorrow it will be a hundred days since his arrival at the White House.
1.- HARRIS AND PELOSI MAKE HISTORY
He began his speech by paying tribute to the two women who follow him in the line of succession: the vice president of the country, Kamala Harris, and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
“Madam President, Madam Vice President. No president has ever said these words from this podium. No president has said those words before. It was time”, said Biden.
Although Pelosi had previously occupied that seat, it is the first time that the Vice President’s seat has been occupied by a woman: Kamala Harris, who after the 2020 elections also became the first black person to occupy that position and the first of Indian or Asian origin to do so.
2.- A MEDIUM EMPTY HEMICYCLE WITH MASKS
If behind Biden Pelosi and Harris were there, in front of him was a half-empty hemicycle with only 200 guests, seated in various seats and mostly wearing masks.
Typically, these types of events are attended by about 1,600 people, including 535 members of the Senate and the Lower House, as well as advisers and guests.
This time, invitations were only sent to a small fraction of the members of the Legislature and the attendance of the leaders of other important institutions was also limited.
Specifically, the only representative of the Supreme Court was its president, John Roberts, dressed in his black toga and who during the speech remained seated without applauding with his hands on his lap.
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3.- THE FIRST LADY, IN CHARGE OF INITIATING THE APPLAUSE
The applause is, in fact, a very important part of the speech: the legislators who belong to the president’s party have the mission to initiate the majority of the ovations.
However, on this occasion, that task was especially difficult because there were fewer attendees and because some of them are older, so constantly clapping can be exhausting.
In light of this, the first lady, Jill Biden, was in charge of initiating the ovations several times, something that was reflected by the television cameras that had their eyes fixed on her.
According to CBS, there was 62 applause during the speech and the longest, of 22 seconds, occurred when Biden praised the work that the first lady performs as a teacher.
4.- NO “SURVIVOR” IN CASE OF ATTACK
Furthermore, due to the pandemic, only some members of the Cabinet attended the speech.
Therefore, for the first time in decades, there was no need to designate a “survivor”, that is, a member of the Government who takes refuge in a secret place to be safe in case there is an attack that eliminates the members. of the three branches of the State, which are usually all present at events like today.
The idea is to guarantee the continuity of the Government if the unimaginable happens.
The concept has inspired the popular television series “Designated Survivor” (2016) and the film “xXx: State of the Union” (2005).
5.- FIRST GREAT POLITICAL EVENT SINCE THE ASSAULT ON THE CAPITOL
Finally, the speech took place amid enormous security measures. It is the first major event held by Congress since the ratification of the electoral victory of Biden on January 6, when supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the building in an incident that left five dead, including a police officer.
Biden made several allusions to that incident. In addition, prior to the speech, he greeted Capitol security officers, including newly appointed Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson.
After the speech, the president and the first lady took a photo with 23 employees of the Capitol.