Joe Biden is set to become the 46th president of the United States, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump. ABC News characterized Joe Biden as the apparent winner of his home state of Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 vote threshold needed to capture the presidency.
The hard-fought battle against the president was set against the backdrop of racial unrest and the coronavirus pandemic and bitter divisions among the electorate.
Trump had falsely declared on election night, when he held a lead in several key states, that he won the contest and alleged without evidence, after the count started to swing the other way, that the election was being stolen from him and that fraud had been committed.
Painting the election as a "battle for the soul of the nation," Biden won on a message of unity over division, compassion over anger, and reality over what he called Trump's "wishful thinking" as the coronavirus pandemic cast a heavy shadow over the campaign.
Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 08, 2020, 12:24 PM EST
Unity and decency prevail for Biden in divided America: ANALYSIS
The year 2020 has been one of the most tumultuous in history -- with a pandemic, an economic collapse, a searing racial reckoning and wild leadership out of the Oval Office.
Biden launched his campaign as a battle for the "soul of America." Winning, though, doesn't come close to ending that battle -- and will test both Biden and his fellow Americans through what promises to be a tense period in the nation and beyond.
Biden's first statement as president-elect sought to strike a note of unity.
"Democracy beats deep in the heart of America," he said in the statement released by his campaign. "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It's time for America to unite. And to heal."
The Biden-Harris transition team launched its full transition website, BuildBackBetter.com, and social media channels to make sure the American people “know where to go to learn more information about plans for a Biden-Harris Administration."
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris deliver remarks in Wilmington, Del., Nov. 7, 2020, after being declared the winners of the presidential election by the media.
Andrew Harnik/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Agency review teams will begin their duties this week, which will include gaining access to federal agencies at the appropriate point, the campaign said. Biden will also launch his COVID-19 task force, which he announced Saturday in his address to the nation.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Benjamin Siegel
Nov 08, 2020, 1:04 AM EST
Biden plans flurry of executive orders to reverse some Trump policies: Sources
Sources familiar with President-elect Biden’s plans say he is discussing signing a flurry of executive orders once he takes office to reverse some of President Trump’s policies over the past four years.
There have been discussions about rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and World Health Organization and repealing the travel ban, sources said, emphasizing that executive action is only one vehicle to implement Biden’s agenda and the priority will be to work with Congress.
A Biden transition official said, "there have been no transition decisions made and we look forward to working with Congress to implement Biden-Harris policies.”
The Washington Post first reported the news about the series of executive orders.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders
Nov 07, 2020, 10:20 PM EST
Howard University, Harris' alma mater, celebrates historic win
At Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C., the mood among students and members of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, was ecstatic on Saturday. The jubilation on campus kicked off early Saturday afternoon and lasted throughout the evening as Harris and Joe Biden took the stage in Delaware.
Gwen Cofield, a fellow soror who was on campus at the same time Harris in the early 1980s, was among those impatiently watching the results on TV in the past few days.
"With the tension and the voting and accounting of it was stressful," Cofield told ABC News. "There was some sadness in terms of some levels of watching the numbers and what it meant for us as a a nation."
Students and alumni of Howard University, alma mater of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, gather on campus to celebrate her victory with President-elect Joe Biden, Nov. 7, 2020.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
"Ultimately the final numbers showed what direction we want to go at," she added. "And so that is what makes me excited. The tears I ultimately shed will be tears of joy."
Howard University celebrated the news of their famous alum, saying in a statement, "Senator Kamala Harris has swung her Howard hammer and shattered the proverbial glass ceiling into pieces that will not be put back together. In an election that saw more Americans cast a ballot than ever before, a majority of Americans have selected Vice President Biden to be the 46th President and our distinguished alumna Senator Harris to serve as the 49th Vice President of the United States."
One student on campus, Taylor Ward, told ABC News that Harris' rise to vice president "is very empowering and eye-opening knowing that you could potentially do everything that you want to do just because you have an example set for you."
-ABC News' Matthew Vann, Becky Perlow and Faith Abubey
