The world needs an America that is ready to face up to the difficult tasks ahead

So, he made it after all. After Joe Biden’s first run for the White House in 1988 – and despite the increasingly desperate efforts of Donald Trump – the will of the people prevailed, and the peaceful transfer of power was completed.

America can breathe out. The “uncivil war” and the Twitter madness is over, with Mr Trump back on the golf course. In his inaugural ceremonials, in sharp contrast to the one four years ago, President Biden proved that “politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire”.

At least for a time Mr Biden will succeed simply by not being Donald J Trump. That, after all, is how he got to win the White House. The Trump experiment – nationalist populism espoused by a man who had never previously held public office – has failed. Mr Trump did not make America great again.

Instead. the new tenant of the White House is as conventional as any career politician can be, having been an elected politician for half a century and with a studied moderation in tone and policy – albeit with some more radical edges to his beliefs. As he says, there is much to do to restore American unity and prestige.

The immediate tasks facing Mr Biden are clear. The Covid-19 crisis, at last, will receive the determined, rational response it deserves, both clinical and medical. The treasury secretary-designate, Janet Yellen, has already outlined her bold plans, and Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have already been briefed by Dr Anthony Fauci, who faced the difficulties caused by Mr Trump's indifference and outright hostility.

Mask-wearing will no longer be portrayed as a sign of weakness and will be mandatory on federal ground. The flags laid out in the National Mall as a memorial to the 400,000 American victims of coronavirus serve as a reminder both of the scale of the continuing challenge and of the enormity of the failures of the last year. It was a moving ceremony, and the new president was right to pause for a silent prayer for the dead.

Soon executive orders will undo some of the worst excesses of the Trump administration. The United States will rejoin the family of nations through the Paris Agreement on the climate crisis, and plans to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. Construction of the wall on the Mexican border will be halted. Relations with America’s bruised friends and allies, from Canada to South Korea to Germany, will be repaired. The British will be treated with respect rather than as a picturesque destination for selfies with the Queen. Nato will be put back on track, and Russia will get the message. China’s ambitions will be dealt with, without the need for insults.

Beyond that there is more to do at home. Obamacare, which Mr Biden did so much to establish as vice president in 2010, needs to be strengthened and entrenched in the affections of the American people. The civil rights of black Americans, especially the disenfranchised, have to be defended against piecemeal erosion in individual states. Racial justice remains denied, and white supremacy has once again to be confronted. The symbolism of the arrival of Vice President Harris should be a start to that; it will be a ceaseless task.

America needs healing, and it has found a suitable soul to minister to that yearning. As he declared, “My whole soul is in this – bringing America together.”

Mr Biden is no saint, and he has his flaws, but he knows what needs to be done. In due course new crises and “black swan” events will test him, and he may be found wanting. For now, though, “Sleepy Joe”, the sobriquet given him derisively by Mr Trump, is precisely what America needs.