The Biden/Harris administration started on January 20, 2021. This came weeks after the worse insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in American history on January 6, 2021 (when terrorists used weapons and other objects to assault police officers, some used racist slurs, and some flown Confederate plus Neo-Nazi flags in the Capitol). The whole area where the inauguration took place was filled with fences and U.S. National Guard troops. The whole vicinity around the Washington Mall and the U.S. Capitol was fully fortified. People wore masks, and Bernie Sanders wore eclectic mittens that became an Internet meme. Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office being the first black woman and Asian woman to be Vice President in American history. It was a very historic occasion. Also, Joe Biden took his oath of office too. President Biden spoke about desiring unity, bipartisanship, and rejecting the lies from white racists. This day was on a National Day of Unity. Parades, celebrations, and a TV primetime special (hosted by a freezing Tom Hanks and other people) showcasing American inspirational themes were in existence on that day of January 20, 2021 too. The day ended with fireworks being displayed near the White House. Immediately, President Biden made many progressive changes in society. He rejoined the Paris Agreement. He allowed America to rejoin the World Health Organization. President Biden used an executive order to revoke the Keystone XL Pipeline permit and another one to stop funding for the border for the border wall along the Mexican border. Biden ended the Trump xenophobic travel ban from Middle East countries. Many of his cabinet members were confirmed early in his first term like Avril Haines for the Director of National Intelligence. The coronavirus was spreading rapidly early in his term with more access to vaccines. The Biden administration created a rapid infrastructure to send vaccines to Americans. The issue is that tons of people either refused to be vaccinated and hospitals in many cases couldn't deal with the large numbers of people in ICUs or in other locations because of the coronavirus symptoms. Press Secretary Jen Psaki have many press briefings. Biden also allowed the Department of Education to extend the pause on federal student loans through September 30, 2021, until he changed it until May of 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris also communicated with many people like the WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Senate confirmed the Lloyd Austin as the Secretary of Defense in a vote of 93-2. Biden signed an executive order to ask agencies to boost food aid and improve the delivery of stimulus checks. He also signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 an hour. Early during the Biden Presidency, President Joe Biden visited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the French President Emmanuel Marcon. By late January of 2021, President Biden issued travel restrictions on many nations to try to stop the spread of new COVID-19 strains. As we shall we, these strains continued to spread massively regardless of the restrictions. During the midst of the increase of racist anti-Asian hate crimes, President Biden signed an executive order to condemn xenophobia and hate crimes against Asian Americans. President Biden ended The Department of Justice contracts with private prisons due to oppression against African American involving the justice system. This order opposed discrimination involving housing. Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden received their 2nd vaccine shots. By February 2021, the Biden administration negotiated with Republicans to try to pass a coronavirus aid package deal. Pete Buttigieg, as the Secretary of Transportation and Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security work after they are confirmed in February of 2021. Biden supported policies to increase refugee admissions in America. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Denis McDonough as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Biden spoke with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. President Biden held a moment of silence outside of the White House to commemorate the 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. More people are confirmed by early March like Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Chair of the Council of Economic Adviser Cecilia Rouse. One of the great parts of the Biden Administration was when President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law by March 11, 2021, on Thursday. This law helped millions of American in dealing with the pandemic virus. Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of Interior by March 15, 2021 being the first Native American with that cabinet position.
President Joe Biden wants 100 million vaccine shots, and 100 million stimulus checks for all Americans. He said this goal on March 15, 2021. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Deb Haaland as the Secretary of the Interior on March 16. Biden and Putin have tensions as Biden called Putin a violent killer. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Katherine Tai as the United States Trade Representative. Vice President Kamala Harris also was given the job of dealing with the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico. She led negotiations with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. By March 31, 2021, President Biden introduced the American Jobs Plan during a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On that date, President Biden declared March 31 as International Transgender Day of Visibility to deal with outlining more awareness to trans human beings and gender nonconfirming people. By April of 2021, the Biden administration worked hard to promote the infrastructure bill. It would be a tough, long process, but President Biden got the bill into the finish line. By early April, Russia already amassed large troops near eastern Ukraine. President Biden talked with Ukrainian President Volodyrmr Zelensky to talk about Russia and anti-corruption efforts. By April 3, there was an investigation of a car attack at a United States Capitol security checkpoint which William Evans, a Capitol police officer, died. On April 4, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential proclamation on the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. By this time of April 2021, Senator Joe Manchin wanted to block President Biden's plan to raise the corporate tax to 28%. Biden told the Department of Justice to draft a red flag law and propose rules on ghost suns and pistol stabilizing braces. President Joe Biden made the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States to study reforming the Supreme Court (possibly proposing increasing the number of justices). President Biden talked with Republicans and Democratic members of Congress to advance the American Jobs Plan.
On April 14, President Biden said that he wants to withdrawal all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, ending America's longest overt war. Biden was right to want the withdrawal, but he rushed the evacuation causing instability in that region. In retrospect, he should have a withdrawal in specific stages while using plans for better humanitarian efforts. Biden used sanctions on Russia over a cyber attack. On April 20, 2021, President Biden spoke to the nation after Derek Chauvin was rightfully found guilty of the murder of George Floyd. Tons of Americans, including black Americans, celebrated the verdict while realizing that there is a long way to go. President Biden wants federal legislation to have police reform, but to this day, no law is passed. He met with G20 members, and Biden is the first President to recognize the Ottoman genocide of Armenians during WWI. Biden presented the American Families Plan to the Congress. Biden celebrated the 50-year anniversary of Amtrak and send condolences to the 45 victims of the 2021 Meron stampede in Israel. By May 3, 2021, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and President Biden give remarks at Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia. He called May 5 the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. Biden talks about masks, and by this time, new debates exist about mandates involving the virus. On May 15, President Biden talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas involving the Gaza situation. President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. Biden condemned the anti-Jewish hate crimes legitimately in May 24, but he is silent on giving revolutionary comments on the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis causing deaths on both sides. Biden talked with the family of George Floyd in the White House to promote the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The President gave a speech on the 100th year anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, he ended oil drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and he ended the Remain in Mexico policy. By June 4, 2021, President Biden recognized the 40th year anniversary of the AIDS Epidemic. Biden and Putin meet at Geneva, Switzerland on June 16. By June 17, 2021, President signed the bill making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. It should have been a holiday a long time ago, but that was great news in world history. On June 23, President Joe Biden talks about his plans to curb gun violence as gun violence and crime has increased nationwide in America by 2021.
During the day of June 25, 2021, Biden held a bilateral meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House. ON that same day, President Biden signed a law that designates the Pulse nightclub a National memorial site, on the fifth anniversary of the Orlando nightclub shooting. He orders airstrikes in Syria in retaliation for drone attacks. By June 28, he met with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the White House. President Biden held a virtual meeting with state governors on June 30. He nominates Amy Gutmann as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. On July 1st, 2021, The President and First Lady Jill Biden visit Surfside, Florida to show condolences to the victims of the Surfside condominium building collapse and their families. President Biden wants to fight for his infrastructure bill and say remarks about job creation figures in June. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to celebrate their victory in the 2020 World Series. They received custom made jerseys from the team with their names plus term numbers. By July 4, the Delta variant account for 25 percent of COVID-19 cases. After 6 months after the U.S. Capitol attack, there was the assassination of President Jovenel Moise of Haiti. The First Lady Martine Moise was wounded. President Biden starts the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan on July 8. It would end by August 31, 2021. Biden signed a proclamation declaring July 16th National Atomic Veterans Day. The President celebrated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the White House for winning the Super Bowl. America uses a drone strike against Al-Shabaab in Somalis on July 20. Biden signed the Crime Victims Fund Act. Before, Biden was in a town hall in Cincinnati to promote his policies hosted by Don Lemon on CNN. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN was Linda Thomas-Greenfield. On August 3, 2021, Biden wanted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigation corroborates sexual harassment allegations. To this very day, Cuomo denies some of the allegations. A new Governor is in New York state after his resignation. By August 8, Biden send B-52 bombers to attack the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on August 10 by a vote of 69-31. The Taliban quickly recapture Afghanistan in a shocking fashion in many eyes. Biden faced criticism by the far right and the neo-cons including the neo-liberals about the Afghanistan strategy, but Biden sticked by his decision for the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. President Biden welcomed the Seattle Storm for winning the WNBA championship in 2020, he wanted employers to require vaccinations, and Kamala Harris toured Singapore. Terrorists attack the Hamid Karzi International Airport in Afghanistan. The evacuations continue. Biden met with Israeli Prime Minster Naftli Bennett at the White House.
The soldiers, who lost their lives in Afghanistan (after the terrorist attack at the airport), have their bodies delivered to Dover Air Base with honors sent by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The end of the U.S. military involvement of the Afghanistan was by August 31, 2021. The result of this situation will be debated for years and decades. Biden responded to Hurricane Ida. Also, President Biden went to Lousiana to survey the damage from Hurricane Ida. He wanted declassification of the documents related to 9/11 via executive order. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with California Governor Gavin Newsome in San Leadnro ahead of the September 14 recall election. He or President Biden spoke with China's leader Xi Jinping. At Ground Zero, on September 11, 2021, Biden, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama attended a memorial commemorating the 20th year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Biden campaign for California Governor Gavin Newsom in Long Beach. Newsom wins to defeat the recall as he remains Governor of California. By the end of summer, many Haitians were abused by U.S. authorities (there were images of border patrol agents on horseback with reins chasing Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas), wildfire spread in America, and Biden created an interagency plan to deal with the effects of frequent extreme heat waves caused by global warming. By the end of the Summer, President Biden dealt with unique challenges domestically and foreign policy wise.
After the marriage among Prince Charles and Princess Diana, they had 2 children. Prince William was born on June 21, 1982, and their 2nd son was Harry, born on September 15, 1984. She admitted that she suffered postpartum depression. Diana wanted her children to have a normal childhood. So, she selected their schools, clothing, and planned their outings. She organized her public duties around their timetables. Later, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana broke down by the late 1980's. People already knew that Charles had an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Diana later had an affair with Major James Hewitt. Hewitt was the family's former riding instructor. The reporters in the press reported on the cracks in the marriage. In 1989, Diana was at a birthday party for Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, when she confronted Camilla about her and Charles's extramarital affair. These affairs were later exposed in May 1992 with the publication of Andrew Morton's book, Diana: Her True Story. The book, which also revealed Diana's allegedly suicidal unhappiness, caused a media storm. In 1991, James Colthurst had conducted secret interviews with Diana in which she had talked about her marital issues and difficulties. These recordings were later used as a source for Morton's book. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana to cause a reconciliation. It failed. Prince Philip wrote a letter desiring to show his disappointment with Diana and Charles having extramarital affairs. During 1992 and 1993, leaked tapes of telephone conversations reflected negatively on both Charles and Diana. Tape recordings of Diana and James Gilbey were made public in August 1992, and transcripts were published the same month. The article, "Squidgygate", was followed in November 1992 by the leaked "Camillagate" tapes, intimate exchanges between Charles and Camilla, published in the tabloids. In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple's "amicable separation" to the House of Commons.
Princess Diana said that Charles made her feel inadequate in every way possible. Charles's aunt, Princess Margaret, burned "highly personal" letters that Diana had written to the Queen Mother in 1993. Biographer William Shawcross considered Margaret's action to be "understandable" as she was "protecting her mother and other members of the family", but "regrettable from a historical viewpoint." Diana blamed Camilla and Charles for the affair, but she believed that Charles had other affairs too. She accused Charles of having an affair with Tiggy Lee Bourke, or his personal assistant.
The divorce among Princess Diana and Prince Charles existed in stages. By the famous December 20, 1995 interview with journalist Martin Bashir of BBC on the show Panorama, everything hit the fan. Princess Diana talked about her own affairs and Charles's affairs. She also expressed doubt about Charles' suitability for kindship. Authors Tina Brown, Sally Bedell Smith, and Sarah Bradford supported Diana's admission in the interview that she had suffered from depression, "rampant bulimia" and had engaged numerous times in the act of self-mutilation; the show's transcript records Diana confirming many of her mental health problems, including that she had "hurt [her] arms and legs." The combination of illnesses from which Diana herself said she suffered resulted in some of her biographers opining that she had borderline personality disorder. After Diana's interview, the marriage was practically over. By December 20, 1995, the Buckingham Palace said that the Queen sent letters to Charles and Diana to advise them to divorce. Princess Diana and Prince Charles negotiated for the divorce by 1996. The decree nisi was granted on July 15, 1996, and the divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996. Anthony Julius represented her in the case. She received a lump sum settlement of £17 million (equivalent to £32,623,216 in 2020) as well as £400,000 per year. The couple signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibited them from discussing the details of the divorce or of their married life. Princess Diana grew to be a very public person. Charles and Diana visited Wales in October 1981. She traveled the world by the early 1980's. The Princess made her inaugural overseas tour in September 1982, to attend the state funeral of Grace, Princess of Monaco. She visited Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1983. Princess Diana traveled into Rome, and she saw President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Regan in the White House in November 1985. Princess Diana toured Japan, Spain, and Indonesia.
In 1988, Charles and Diana visited Thailand and toured Australia for the bicentenary celebrations. In February 1989, she spent a few days in New York as a solo visit, mainly to promote the works of the Welsh National Opera, of which she was a patron. During a tour of Harlem Hospital Center, she made a profound impact on the public by spontaneously hugging a seven-year-old child with AIDS. Back in the day, many people had misconceptions and bigoted attitudes about people with AIDS. Princess Diana made physical contact with AIDS patients. Diana noted: "HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys." To Diana's disappointment, the Queen did not support this type of charity work, suggesting she get involved in "something more pleasant." The Queen was wrong in that thinking. In 1989, she opened Landmark Aids Centre in South London. In October 1990, Diana opened Grandma's House, a home for young AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. She was also a patron of the National AIDS Trust. In 1991, she hugged one patient during a visit to the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital, which she had opened in 1987 as the first hospital unit dedicated to this cause in the UK. As the patron of Turning Point, a health and social care organization, Diana visited its project in London for people with HIV/AIDS in 1992. She later established and led fundraising campaigns for AIDS research. In March 1997, Diana visited South Africa, where she met with President Nelson Mandela. On November 2, 2002, Mandela announced that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund would be teaming up with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to help people with AIDS. They had planned the combination of the two charities a few months before her death. Mandela later praised Diana for her efforts surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS: "When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people." Diana had used her celebrity status to "fight stigma attached to people living with HIV/AIDS", Mandela said. In October 2017, the Attitude magazine honored Diana with its Legacy Award for her HIV/AIDS work. Prince Harry accepted the award on behalf of his mother.
In March 1989, she had her second trip to the Arab Gulf States, in which she visited Kuwait and the UAE. Prince Charles and Diana visited Nigeria and Cameroon in March 1990. Princess Diana was political desiring women's development, foreign aid, and an end to land mines. Princess Diana visited Germany in December 1990 to meet with the families of soldiers during the Gulf War. She subsequently travelled to Germany in January 1991 to visit RAF Bruggen, and later wrote an encouraging letter which was published in Soldier, Navy News and RAF News. She was friends with Mother Teresa after they met in Kolkata, India in 1992. She visited the Taj Mahal. Princess Diana visited the National Children's Hospital in Tokyo in 1995. Princess Diana has a long charity of being involved in charity. She made tons of appearances to hospitals, schools, and other locations. She made 191 official engagements in 1988 and 397 in 1991. The Princess Diana developed an intense interest in serious illnesses and health-related matters outside the purview of traditional royal involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. In recognition of her effect as a philanthropist, Stephen Lee, director of the UK Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers, said "Her overall effect on charity is probably more significant than any other person's in the 20th century."
She visited the homeless, the youth, drug addicted people, and the elderly. From 1984 to 1996, she was president of Barnardo's, a charity founded by Dr. Thomas John Barnardo in 1866 to care for vulnerable children and young people. In 1988, she became patron of the British Red Cross and supported its organizations in other countries such as Australia and Canada. She made several lengthy visits each week to Royal Brompton Hospital, where she worked to comfort seriously ill or dying patients. From 1991 to 1996, she was a patron of Headway, a brain injury association. In 1992, she became the first patron of Chester Childbirth Appeal, a charity she had supported since 1984. The charity, which is named after one of Diana's royal titles, could raise over £1 million with her help. In 1994, she helped her friend Julia Samuel launch the charity Child Bereavement UK which supports children "of military families, those of suicide victims, [and] terminally-ill parents", and became its patron. Prince William later replaced his mother as the charity's royal patron. Princess Diana invested her resources to help the cancer victims, people who are blind, people who are deaf, and a wide spectrum of charities. Princess Diana was one of the greatest philanthropists of the 20th century. In December 1995, Diana received the United Cerebral Palsy Humanitarian of the Year Award in New York City for her philanthropic efforts. In October 1996, for her works on the elderly, she was awarded a gold medal at a health care conference organized by the Pio Manzù Centre in Rimini, Italy. In May 1997, Diana opened the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts in Leicester, after being asked by her friend Richard Attenborough. In June 1997, some of her dresses and suits were sold at Christie's auction houses in London and New York, and the proceeds that were earned from these events were donated to charities. Her final official engagement was a visit to Northwick Park Hospital, London, on July 21, 1997. She was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the Osteopathic Centre for Children on September 4, 1997, upon her return from Paris. She fought to have mines gone in Angola by January 1997. She visited First Lady Hillary Clinton by June 1997 to promote a fundraiser to get rid of landmines. By August 7 to 10, 1997, Princess Diana visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with Jerry White and Ken Rutherford of the Landmine Survivors Network. Princess Diana invested her time to fight breast cancer, leprosy, and other illnesses. She visited hospitals in India, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria.
It is no question that some in the media harassed and stalked Princess Diana constantly and inappropriate ways constantly. Some of them showed a pregnant Diana in a bikini. The Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) published photographs of Diana taken by gym owner Bryce Taylor. They showed personal images of her. Diana sued, and MGN gave her an apology. After the divorce, Princess Diana lived in Kensington Palace. For a time, she dated the British Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who she called the "love of her life." Their relationship ended, because Khan was private and couldn't handle the press's scrutiny. Their relationship ended during the summer of 1997. Later, Princess Diana dated Dodi Fayed. Fayed was the son of her summer host Mohamed Al-Fayed. Diana considered taking her sons on a holiday to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, but security officials had prevented it. After deciding against a trip to Thailand, she accepted Fayed's invitation to join his family in the south of France, where his compound and large security detail would not cause concern to the Royal Protection squad. Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the Jonikal, a 60-metre multimillion-pound yacht on which to entertain Diana and her sons.
Today, there is the sad news of the passing of Bishop Desmond Tutu. He was 90 years old. For decades, he has been one of many voices who eloquently and courageously stood up against the evil of apartheid in South Africa. Being a human rights activist, his love of people was clear and his vision for liberation was bold. From being born and raised in poverty (with both Xhosa and Motswana heritage) to meeting with many leaders of the world, his legacy included wide ranging composition. He was the first black African who was the Archbishop of Cape Town. His theological ecclesiology was pro-black and pro-African. Bishop Desmond Tutu loves unconditionally his wife Nomalizo Leah Shenxane and their four children. A man of peace defines his ethos as he desired peaceful, nonviolent protest along with economic pressure to cause South Africa to be free from the evil system of apartheid. He was one of the most progressive spiritual leaders of our age. Being a mediator, he worked for human rights, helped to cause a peaceful transition to allow Nelson Mandela to be the first black President of South Africa in 1994, opposed the Iraq War, and he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, Africa and the world is near the quarter mark of the 21st century, and it's our responsibility to be better human beings as that is our destiny.
Rest in Power Brother Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Timothy