US President Joe Biden’s powerful inaugural speech, penned by Vinay Reddy, has received glowing tributes for its meticulous crafting and emphasis on the importance of democracy, unity and hope in the midst of challenging times.
Reddy – an Indian-American from Telangana who wrote the speech that outlined Biden’s goals for his administration, focusing on healing from the current state of division in national politics – has been praised for his “calming” and “inspiring” words.
Here are some of the memorable quotes from Biden’s speech:
“This is America’s day, this is democracy’s day, the day of history and hope. Today we celebrate a triumph, not of a candidate, but of a cause. We have learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile. At this hour my friends, Democracy has prevailed.”
“For without unity, there’s no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only state of chaos…this is our historic moment of crisis and challenge…unity is the path forward.”
Here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.”
“Here’s the thing about life. There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we are called to lend a hand. That’s how it has to be. That’s what we do for one another.”
About halfway through his inauguration speech, President Biden said something very important about the work of Washington – and how he envisions his presidency.
“Hear me out as we move forward,” Biden said at one point in his speech, vowing to be a “president for all Americans”, while asserting: “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue”.
Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, described Biden’s inaugural speech as “modest, austere, grave, calming, cleansing” and “inspiring” in a tweet, while other commentators and media columnists said the president “gave the speech the moment demanded.”
“Biden’s speech is about appealing to ‘our better angels’, ‘history, faith, and reason’, ‘dignity’, ‘respect’, ‘unity’. It’s literally a rebuttal to Trump’s ‘American carnage’ Inaugural address,” journalist Matt Fuller tweeted.
“Joe Biden gave the speech the moment demanded. Well done,” Time magazine columnist David French tweeted.
“Biden is meeting the moment here by being direct about the challenges we face, the gaslighting, the viciousness and the need to come together. Hell of a speech,” said Tommy Vietor, former NSC spokesman for President Obama said.
Last month, Biden named his long-time associate Reddy as his speechwriter.
Reddy serves as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and was the Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris Campaign. He previously served as chief speechwriter to former Vice President Biden in the second term of the Obama-Biden White House, after which, he worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications at the National Basketball Association.
During the Obama-Biden administration, he also served as senior speechwriter at the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, deputy speechwriter for the Obama-Biden re-election campaign, and speechwriter for his home state Senator, Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Reddy grew up in Dayton, Ohio, the second one of the three sons in an immigrant family and is a product of Ohio public schools from kindergarten to Miami University to The Ohio State University College of Law. He currently lives in New York with his wife and their two daughters.
