The Spin: Biden calls for unity, end to ‘uncivil war’ | Twitter captivated by Obama-Harris picture on historic day | Trump bows out, vows ‘we’ll be back’

President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony was historic in more ways than one — and that’s not counting Lady Gaga’s golden bird brooch.

When Kamala Harris took her oath today, she not only became the first female vice president in the nation’s history, the former U.S. senator from California also became the first Black person and first person of South Asian descent to hold the office.

During his inaugural address, Biden focused on the idea of unity and bringing together a country sharply divided along partisan lines.

Standing outside the U.S. Capitol, a building that a violent mob attacked two weeks ago during the congressional count of the Electoral College vote, Biden said: “Here we stand, looking out on the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream. Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. And today we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me things can’t change.”

Twitter was captivated by images of former President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president and a politician who cut his teeth in Chicago, and Harris greeting each other.

It also felt like a bipartisan moment, if only symbolically, as Republican and Democratic lawmakers stood together, donning masks, to hear Biden and Harris take the oaths of office as Lady Gaga, then Jennifer Lopez and finally Garth Brooks performed in front of a sparse crowd. Attendance was limited because of the still raging COVID-19 pandemic and stepped-up security after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

Hours earlier, Donald Trump broke with tradition and left Washington, D.C., skipping the inauguration and any hint of a cordial handoff between the outgoing and incoming president. Trump spent weeks after the November election making baseless claims that he was robbed of victory.

Trump did honor the custom of outgoing presidents delivering eleventh-hour pardons and commutations — to the benefit of some people from the Chicago area including Casey Urlacher, who federal prosecutors charged in an alleged sports betting scheme. The pardon comes 10 months after Casey Urlacher’s brother - Chicago Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher - paid a visit to Trump at the White House.

The former president also suggested he wasn’t done with public life.

“We will be back in some form,” Trump told family and friends before boarding Air Force One, bound for civilian life in his new home state of Florida. “Have a good life. We will see you soon.”

Welcome to The Spin.

Illinois’ congressional delegation: Krishnamoorthi on ‘trepidation’ ahead of inauguration, Duckworth on symbolism, LaHood on reaching across the aisle

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Schaumburg Democrat, told The Spin that there was a deep sense of relief as he watched CNN report early this morning that Trump was preparing to leave town hours before the inauguration.

“I was telling someone, ‘I think I’ve discovered the cure for America’s health care costs and problem — it is watching Air Force One depart from Joint Base Andrews with Donald Trump on board” in a final departure from office. “Because I think it lowered everyone’s blood pressure significantly and, I think, lifted a weight off everyone’s shoulders.”

He said there was a sense of “trepidation” walking to the inauguration but once inside, he said that, too, provided another moment to exhale.

“I think there was a little bit of trepidation, a little bit of concern, especially given the enormous security presence that exists here on Capitol Hill,” Krishnamoorthi said. “But once we got into the event, it was so refreshing to see Republicans and Democrats kind of mingling with each other, with some optimism and good cheer. And I think everyone collectively breathing a sigh of relief that you have a new president.”

U.S. Sen Tammy Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates Democrat spoke to MSNBC as she took her place in the audience ahead of the inauguration.

“It’s a gorgeous day,” Duckworth said, “not too sunny, not too windy.”

She said the inauguration was proof “Our democracy won’t be hindered by some insurrectionists, the Trump folks who (were) trying to get in the way of Democracy being carried out. So it’s really glorious being here today, looking out over the flags that are fluttering in the breeze on the way to the Washington Monument there across the mall.”

Peoria Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood congratulated Biden and Harris, but offered a more tempered view. LaHood represents a part of Illinois that backed Trump in the November election and said in a statement: “Our nation faces many unprecedented challenges in the months ahead as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and work to rebuild our communities in the wake of this virus. In Congress, I will work hard to try to find common ground with the Biden Administration on areas that will benefit the constituents of the 18th Congressional District of Illinois.”

Similarly, Downstate U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican, said in a statement that while he’s ready to work with the new White House, “I won’t hesitate to oppose President Biden, his Administration, and the Democratic-controlled Congress and hold them accountable for their party’s liberal impulses. Our Nation faces many problems. Now is the time for all of us to come together and govern in a bipartisan way.”

Like many Democrats, Chicago U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley said he felt a sense of “relief” after witnessing Biden’s call for unity during his inaugural address.

“As our country faces unprecedented challenges – more than 400,000 Americans have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands are out of work, and our nation is deeply divided – President Biden’s inaugural address made it clear that he is prepared to meet this moment with determination, empathy, and true leadership,” Quigley said in a prepared statement.

Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul hailed the new era as a return to “decency” after years of battling the Trump administration.

“Over the past four years, my office has engaged with other attorneys general from throughout the country to defend against the bad policies pursued by the federal government,” Raoul said in a prepared statement. “Between anti-immigrant policies, reducing access to health care, resistance to addressing racial inequalities, and attempts to roll back critical environmental regulations, attorneys general have served as a last line of defense against policies that will harm residents. I welcome the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris as they reverse some of the damaging policies enacted by the last administration.”

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered his “congratulations” via Twitter to Biden and Harris, stating “Their inauguration will help our nation turn toward a new chapter in history. I look forward to working with this new administration to restore the dreams and ideals that our country was founded upon.”

Making history: Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat who is Chicago’s first Black, female, LGBTQ mayor, offered a simple “Welcome Madam Vice President” and “History in the making” on Twitter. Neither the mayor nor Pritzker attended the inauguration.

And Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, of Naperville, made history of her own as the first Black woman to represent her north and west suburban and exurban district back in 2018. On Wednesday, she said in a statement: “At this moment in history, our nation needs unique leadership to bring us together and move us forward. The Biden-Harris Administration, which reflects the diversity of our country, will work to put us on the path to recovery, healing, and progress that will make life better for all Americans.”

South Side native-turned-general commands 25,000 troops providing security for Biden inauguration, the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair reports.

34 Chicago police officers to help keep Washington safe on unprecedented Inauguration Day, the Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg Douglas reports.

Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.

Highlights from Biden’s inauguration speech

President Biden today delivered a 21-minute inaugural speech that sought to set the tone of his administration — unity — while addressing the immediate threats of COVID-19, poverty and injustice, a rise in white supremacy and extremism. Below are some highlights of his prepared remarks, but The Washington Post has the entire speech transcribed here.

On the pandemic: “My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other. We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter. We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.”

And the pandemic’s fallout: “Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now. A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country. It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II. Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed. A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.”

On the political divide: “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and humility. If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment.”

On domestic terrorism: “A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat. To overcome these challenges — to restore the soul and to secure the future of America — requires more than words. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.”

Three former presidents attend inauguration: And despite Trump opting out of attending the inauguration, his vice president, Mike Pence, was there.

Getting to work: Biden’s immigration plan faces hurdle, but locally Mayor Lightfoot wins first-round approval for eliminating loopholes in sanctuary city

President Biden is expected to officially propose an immigration bill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status, according to The Associated Press. It’s an about-face from the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.

Biden’s proposal also would set up a processing program abroad for refugees seeking admission to the U.S. and push toward using technology to monitor the border.

But whether Congress will approve it is up in the air. Republican lawmakers and conservative groups already have signaled their opposition and centrist Democrats may be on the fence, while several pro-immigration groups say it doesn’t go far enough, calling for immediate moratoriums on deportations, detentions and new arrests. Read The Associated Press story here. Or check out the details in this Reuters piece.

Incoming Biden administration to migrant caravans from Central America: Don’t come, you won’t get in immediately. NBC News has the story here.

President Biden signs 1st executive orders, The Associated Press in this piece that examines his first day in office.

Meantime, Mayor Lightfoot won first-round approval this week for an ordinance she’s backing that would prohibit Chicago police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reports.

The aim is to close loopholes in Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance. The Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman notes: “Chicago police officers currently are permitted to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement if targeted individuals are in the city’s gang database; have pending felony prosecutions or prior felony convictions; or are the subject of an outstanding criminal warrant.”

The mayor’s ordinance, which must go for a vote before the full City Council, would end that.

Trump’s farewell: ‘We will be back in some form’ and a pardon for Casey Urlacher, brother to Bears legend

Foregoing tradition, the outgoing president skipped the inauguration of his successor as promised. Instead, Trump exited the White House early this morning and left town from Joint Base Andrews, the military facility nearby, after granting some form of executive clemency to more than 140 people in a flurry of last-minute activity.

Pardoning a local mayor: Casey Urlacher, the 41-year-old mayor of Mettawa, a small village in Lake County, and brother to former Chicago Bears player Brian Urlacher, was among them, the Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart and Jason Meisner report.

Casey Urlacher “was charged last February with conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business. He is accused of acting as an agent for the gambling ring, recruiting bettors in exchange for a cut of their eventual losses. Meisner in a previous piece breaks down the federal case against Casey Urlacher.

Prosecutors said in court that Urlacher, who was released on a recognizance bond, faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted of both counts.

The Associated Press notes Trump also pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon and dozens of others.

What it means — The New York Times piece on the pardons offers some great insight, including this: “His decision to grant clemency to a raft of elected officials and business executives caught up in high-profile corruption cases also represented a final lashing out by Mr. Trump at a criminal justice system that he had come to view as unfairly hounding him and his allies.”

Also: Trump commutes sentence of suburban man serving life in marijuana conspiracy case, the Sun-Times’ Frank Main reports.

At last minute, Trump pardons Al Pirro — the ex-husband of Fox host Jeanine Pirro, The Associated Press reports here.

Limited indoor dining on track to resume Thursday in Will and Kankakee counties under Pritzker’s COVID-19 reopening plan

President Biden described the nation “entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.” As the COVID-19 vaccination rollout has been slow while more transmissible variants of COVID-19 are being discovered, Illinois officials are making plans to reopen the economy.

The Tribune’s Dan Petrella writes today: “Will and Kankakee counties are on track to be the first in the Chicago area to see limited indoor dining resume under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s coronavirus reopening plan, state public health officials said Wednesday.

“The two-county region is meeting the requirements to allow indoor dining at 25% capacity or 25 people, whichever is less, beginning Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.” Read more, including how the east-central region, which includes Champaign-Urbana and Decatur, is on track to have indoor dining expanded to however many tables can be spaced 6 feet apart, with groups limited to 10 people or fewer.” Read the full story here.

IRS investigating hundreds of COVID-19 scams, warns Illinois taxpayers, the Tribune’s Leslie Bonilla reports.

Illinois public schools awarded $2.2 billion in COVID-19 relief funding: Search our list for your district, via the Tribune’s Karen Ann Cullotta and Jonathon Berlin.

Other local news: Chicago police supervisor sues city, alleging new special citywide unit improperly driven by traffic stops and arrests. The Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner and Annie Sweeney have more here.

108 years after racially motivated trial, court docket for Black heavyweight champ Jack Johnson goes public, the Tribune’s Jason Meisner reports.

Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.

Twitter @byldonovan