‘There is tremendous work to be done’ with America’s international standing: Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts Dean

Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Dean and Professor of History Laura Belmonte joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the presidential inauguration.

Video Transcript

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ADAM SHAPIRO: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live, our historic coverage of this moment in time, the 46th president of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, now greeting and shaking hands with the people who witnessed this moment in history, along with all of us who have witnessed this. We should also say hello to the folks who are watching us with Yahoo Canada to witness this moment in the history of the United States.

And as we recap what has happened here and then look forward, there have been very moving moments. There was the national anthem with Lady Gaga. There was JLo reciting portions in Spanish when she declared justice for all.

And Kristin, there was a moment in President Biden's speech where he was talking about unity. He referenced in the call for the racial equality to be deferred no longer, referencing 400 years, the 1619 Project. But he said-- and this was one of the quotes-- "Let's start afresh for all of us. Listen. See one another. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for war." There will be a lot of commentary about what the president has said, but I'm curious, Kristin, what are you taking from what we've just witnessed?

KRISTIN MYERS: You know, as I was watching the entire ceremony, I have to admit, I was a little bit emotional. Not even about politics-- I think for me, this is a lot about representation, to see Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Hispanic woman, giving the oath of office to Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman, the first Black woman, the first South Asian woman to hold office as vice president was, for me, I think incredibly moving, incredibly emotional.

And as you were highlighting, as expected, President Biden really hitting hard on how we need unity to move forward. He said in his speech, without unity, there is no peace, no progress, no nation, only a state of chaos. So a lot of calls there to really unify the country and move forward in order to be able to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the struggling economy that we have as a result of the pandemic over the course of, essentially, a year.

I want to get a little bit more reaction here. We have a panel now. We're joined now by Laura Belmonte, professor of history and Dean of the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. We also have Yahoo Finance's editor-in-chief Andy Serwer here with us now.

I want to go first to you, professor. I know we have a market check coming in just a moment. I apologize for that, Adam. But I want to get some of your reactions about this moment in time that Vice President-elect-- actually now Vice President-- Kamala Harris becoming the first female vice president, the first Black vice president. What does this moment in time mean in terms of the historical context of the Black and Brown community in politics?

LAURA BELMONTE: I would echo your point about the moving importance of the representation here. Vice President Harris clad in purple, which is a color with resonance not only for the history of women's suffrage, but for African-American women in particular. Having Lady Gaga, an icon for the LGBT community, sing. Having JLo sing "This Land is Your Land," and it's impossible not to grasp the significance of that to indigenous and Brown and Black people in the Americas.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Andy, when President Biden was talking about unity, and he said we can achieve this by opening our souls, instead of hardening our hearts with tolerance and with humility, I was curious, as you were listening to the president, did he accomplish the goal of helping heal and unify?

ANDY SERWER: Well, I think it's he's off to a good start, Adam. And I think that that was a pretty powerful speech that he gave. I was also struck by the diversity on the podium the way that Kristin was. And I also was struck by the message of hope that President, now President, Biden was conveying to America.

And that's in stark contrast to four years ago, which is a paradox because if you think about it, President Biden is offering a message for us to move forward. And he made no bones about the fact that we have these incredible challenges-- the pandemic, the economy, climate change, et cetera.

So he's offering a message of hope right now at a pretty dark time, whereas you go back four years ago, and the message was completely different. We are in crisis. This is a terrible time. This is what President Trump was saying back then, when, in fact, those were pretty good times. So I thought the contrast between what the president was saying, President Biden was saying today, and what President Trump was saying four years ago is striking.

And of course, there was really no mention of President Trump at all. He wasn't there. We all know about the transition, which was sort of something that is unprecedented and not to be repeated, we hope. But the president does have his work cut out for him. There is no question about that.

KRISTIN MYERS: Professor, you know, you specialize in foreign relations. And there was actually a moment in his inaugural speech where President Biden actually spoke to, you know, global and world leaders. I'm wondering what you think the reaction is going to be from leaders around the world to a President Biden, and if you think that any faith in the United States at all has been broken or badly damaged.

LAURA BELMONTE: Oh, I absolutely think that America's international standing has taken quite a shellacking over the last four years. And I do think there is tremendous work to be done because there has been damage. We have just had an administration that has spent the last four years attacking the ideas of multilateralism that have undergirded America's role in the world for over a century since the end of World War I.

Pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, pulling out of the Iranian Nuclear Framework, pulling out of the World Health Organization at the height of a pandemic. The discourse used not only at home, but abroad, you know, in demeaning some of our closest allies, having Voice of America, which has been a respected source of news and a real tool of soft power for almost 80 years be politicized.

The damage is there, but I think that President Biden is going to do a lot to try to bring us back in a different direction. He's bringing on a very seasoned foreign policy team, who are not going to need a steep learning curve to bring us back into the fold of nations.

And I think he also sent a strong message to our adversaries. Democracy is fragile. Democracy is precious. Democracy has prevailed. And to our adversaries that have gloated in recent days about the display at the Capitol riot on January 6th, that's a strong message that don't think that we are weak. We may have some division that we seriously need to address, but we aren't going to surrender our position in the world.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Andy, we're both old enough to remember the stories of Tip O'Neill having a drink with Ronald Reagan, two people from opposite political spectrums. Do you think we're going to see that kind of bipartisan unity going forward?

ANDY SERWER: Well, I think we all hope so. And I also remember George Mitchell and Bob Dole doing the same thing, having dinner once a week, Adam. I remember those days as well. And you saw some signs. I mean, we heard that Mitch McConnell attended the prayer session with President Biden before his inauguration.

You saw George W. Bush there attending the inauguration. Mike Pence was quite prominent there. Roy Blunt, the senator, Republican senator from Missouri, had a prominent role in this inauguration. There were numerous appeals by President Biden to both sides of the aisle to come together. Garth Brooks, who has a strong appeal to Republicans, was there as well.

So I think this is going to be-- you know, we talked about this call for unity. And it's one thing to say that sort of to all Americans writ large. But where the rubber meets the road is in that Capitol. And it's going to be that relationship between Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the Senate now, that will be absolutely critical. Because President Biden, while he has a majority in Congress, it is a very slim one, of course, particularly in the Senate.

So, I think Americans are looking towards the Capitol and the White House for leadership here when it comes to coming together. It's not going to be easy. I'm not anticipating smooth sailing. But if we can make some progress from where we are right now, I think that would be a great accomplishment.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Andy Serwer is our editor-in-chief. Laura Belmonte is Dean of the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, as well as professor of history. Thank you both. It was Roy Blunt, by the way, who referred to what we witnessed as commonplace and miraculous.