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Wil mington; 13 members of his family had individ
ually quarantined beforehand in order to watch the
returns come in together. Campaign staff gathered
in front of a huge screen at the Chase Center nearby.
Advisers downplayed the chance of a quick victory.
Still, some Democrats panicked early in the night,
fearing Trump’s strength in Florida foreshadowed a
repeat of 2016. Biden allies reassured supporters that
mail ballots would ultimately erase Trump’s lead, but
many were anxious. “I sure went to bed depressed,”
says longtime donor John Morgan.
Most of the Biden brain trust didn’t go to bed at
all. Every hour or two, they were briefed by the cam
paign’s analytics director, Becca Siegel, who assured
them Biden was getting the numbers he needed. “The
mood was not dire or panicky,” says Bedingfield. “It
was more like the agony of waiting and waiting for
something that you know is coming.” For the next
four days, the Bidens were “like every other family in
America: we were glued to the TV,” Jill Biden recalls.
When the networks finally called the race on
No v. 7, Joe and Jill were away from the television,
sitting on lawn chairs in the backyard. All of a sud
den loud cheers broke the silence, and their grand
children came running, shouting, “Pop won!” Once
inside, Biden’s first call was to Harris.
Harris saw the news after coming back from a run
in Delaware. She rushed back outside to find Emhoff
to tell him, and that’s when she got the call from the
President elect. As the streets erupted in celebration,
her sister Maya came over for a lunch of bagels and
lox, with a plate of bacon to share. For millions across
America, it was the dawn of a new era after four years
of vexation and strife; for the sisters, watching foot
age of revelers gathering in front of the little yellow
apartment in Berkeley where they grew up, it was as
if time had stopped. “We kind of had this brief mo
ment where everything was bursting all around us,
but we could just sit for a bit and take it all in before
plunging into what was about to become this immi
nent new, big reality,” Maya says.
Even now, friends say, that reality hasn’t quite sunk
in. Harris’ longtime adviser Minyon Moore says she
keeps asking: “Do you know you’re the Vice President
yet?” And Harris replies, “No, not really, but I’m trying.”
All new Presidents inherit messes from their
predecessors, but Biden is the first to have to
think about literally decontaminating the White
House. Combatting the pandemic is only the start
of the challenge, at home and abroad. There are
alliances to rebuild, a stimulus package to pass, a
government to staff. Biden’s advisers are prepar
ing a slew of Executive Orders: restoring the De
ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration
program, rejoining the Paris Agreement, revers
ing the socalled Muslim ban and more. Biden’s
“Build Back Better” plan aims to revitalize the
viruswracked economy—which some analysts say
is unlikely to fully recover until 2023—by invest
ing in infrastructure, education and childcare. “I
think if my plan is able to be implemented,” Biden
says, “it’s gonna go down as one of the most pro
gressive Administrations in American history.”
Much of what Biden hopes to do, from Cabinet
appointments to legislation, will have to pass a more
divided Senate than the one he left a dozen years
ago. If Republicans win at least one of Georgia’s two
Senate seats in Jan. 5 runoffs, the fate of his agenda
will be in the hands of Republican majority leader
Mitch McConnell, who, like most GOP members of
Congress, has refused even to acknowledge his vic
tory. Biden’s relationships and peace offerings may
not be worth much in this climate, says his friend Wil
liam Cohen, a former GOP Senator. Republicans “will
be watching not him but Donald Trump, and acting
just as much out of fear of [Trump] in the future as
they have in the past.” As in the campaign, the GOP
is likely to amplify controversy surrounding Biden’s
son Hunter, who on Dec. 9 released a statement ac
knowledging his tax affairs are under investigation
by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Delaware.
For now, Biden and Harris are busy building a
team in a wellordered sequence, starting with se
nior White House staff and progressing through clus
ters of appointments—first foreign policy, then eco
nomic officials, then health advisers, and so on. The
Biden Harris Administration is on track to be one
of the most diverse in the nation’s history, though it
doesn’t go far enough for some. Their relationship
has continued to deepen. “The thing that I love that
I’ve observed: it’s not stiff, it’s natural,” Jill Biden says.
“They’re friends already, and the trust can only con
tinue to grow.” Biden’s big jobs as Vice President—
from selling the Recovery Act to negotiating budget
deals with McConnell—tended to land in his lap, and
he expects it will be similar for Harris, who has not
yet announced a dedicated portfolio. To millions, the
symbolism of Harris’ role is nearly as important as the
substance. “What she’s projecting is America—it has
risen just one more time,” Moore says.
Even if Trump still captivates a broad swath of
the country, the Presidentelect believes the ran
cor will fade as Trump exits stage right. The next
few months will be “letting the air out of the bal
loon,” says Biden. “I think you’re gonna see a lot
more cooperation than anybody thinks.” Until
then, he and Harris are polishing their scripts and
rehearsing their lines inside the Queen. They have
just six weeks to prepare. On Jan. 20, the lights will
come up, and the show will go on. —With reporting
by AlAnA AbrAmson, briAn bennett, VerA
bergengruen, m Adeleine CArlisle, leslie
diCkstein, AlejAndro de lA gArzA, simmone
shAh, lissAndrA VillA, oliViA b. wAxmAn and
juliA zorthiAn