Biden sees to peaceful transition of power with Trump after bitter campaign: ANALYSIS
He's doing so despite having called him a threat to American democracy.
The 2024 campaign could hardly have been more bitter, more personal.
Joe Biden painted Donald Trump a threat to democracy. Trump mocked Biden as feeble and the worst president ever.
Now, just months later, Biden will put politics aside and stand near his successor as he takes the presidential oath spelled out in the Constitution.
The gesture is a tradition of American democracy, but especially notable given that Trump skipped Biden's inauguration four years ago after refusing to concede.
Biden confirmed he would honor that tradition -- as so many presidents have before -- shortly after he hosted Trump at the White House following his November victory, another courtesy Trump failed to extend to Biden in 2020.
"Understand that Biden is the preeminent institutionalist," said Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian and professor at American University.
"These rituals are extremely important for reaffirming the peaceful transition of power," Lichtman said. "Biden is striving as best he can not to be petty, not to be vengeful, but to try to reestablish the basic norms and symbols of our democracy."

It all comes after the tumultuous relationship between Biden and Trump was on full display in the presidential race.
Biden long asserted Trump was an existential threat to the nation's bedrock principles and freedoms, while Trump repeatedly skewered Biden's age and questioned his mental acuity as he more broadly criticized Democrats as the "enemy from within."
Those dynamics were exhibited in their only debate in June, which altered the course of the campaign as Democratic panic after the showdown led to Biden withdrawing from the race.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either,” Trump said at one point, after Biden struggled to find the words and drifted off.
Biden called Trump "such a whiner" as he slammed his election denialism. "This guy has no sense of American democracy," Biden said.
Such disdain was put aside as Biden and Trump met in the Oval Office in mid-November and vowed a smooth transition. The White House described the sit-down as cordial, and Trump said it was a "really good meeting."
But the antagonism has resurfaced in the final stretch, even as the outgoing and incoming administration worked together to secure the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

Trump has taken issue with Biden's final actions in office, such as his ban on offshore oil drilling, claiming they are intended to block him from implementing his agenda.
"We are inheriting a difficult situation from the outgoing administration, and they're trying everything they can to make it more difficult," Trump complained at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, claiming Biden's promise of aiding a transition was "all talk."
Biden, in turn, in his farewell address, issued a pointed warning to Americans to be vigilant against abuses of power ahead.
While he didn't mention Trump by name, the parallels were obvious as he condemned the expanded executive reach Trump has sought and cited the danger he said was posed by the ultra-wealthy elites now in Trump's close company.
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," he said.
And there was no mistaking who Biden was referring to when he called for a constitutional amendment to "make clear that no president -- no president -- is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office" -- as a counter to last year's blockbuster Supreme Court ruling.
"The president's power is not unlimited. It's not absolute, and it shouldn't be," Biden said.
On Monday at noon, Trump will respect tradition and solemnly swear he will "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The peaceful transition of power Biden sought will be complete.