Biden Bows Out
Reflections Before His Oval Office Address
If George Washington resigned his commission as commander of the Continental Army, King George III reportedly once said, “he would be the greatest man in the world.” Well, here we are almost 250 years later, and President Joe Biden is the greatest man in America.
As Democrat strategist and political analyst Simon Rosenberg put it, “What President Biden did…was hard, hard beyond understanding. He came out of retirement to fight against the escalating extremism of MAGA. He beat Trump, flipped the Senate, and lead us through important election victories across the country these last 2 years. He inherited one of the worst first days of an American President in all of our history—COVID, insurrection, lack of a peaceful transfer of power, an economy in terrible shape—and look where we are now.”
I could not agree more. President Biden is truly an “American Cincinnatus.” His selfless decision contrasts well with the craven selfishness that has defined Trump’s entire life, never mind his presidency. President Biden expressed support for his Vice-President, whereas Trump expressed support for hanging his vice-president. President Biden stepped down at even the risk of losing democracy; Trump refused to step down even when democracy told him he had to go. The list could go on and on.
To give up the office—at such a consequential time—is likely one of the hardest decisions in the world. Not least because President Biden was still ready, willing, and able to do the difficult yet rewarding work of delivering for the American people. You could see it in his NATO press conference. You could see his command of the ins-and-outs of foreign policy. There, in plain view, was just part of his rationale for wanting “to finish the job he started.”
Why should he stop? When he could have done so much more? I am sure that question rang continually in the President’s head. Who wouldn’t want to finish the most important job of their lives? When the stakes were so high, and the possible benefits for the American people so great?
That was the dilemma President Biden wrestled with probably every day after his debate performance. An awful sense of responsibility comes with the presidency. Each day carries its own risk. Each snap decision the President makes risks ruining livelihoods. Endangering lives. Killing civilians and soldiers. All those are dangers that merely come with normal times.
Well, hate to break it to all of you, but we do not live in normal times. In Donald Trump, we face an unprecedented threat to our democracy. In Vladimir Putin, we face a threat to the international order that has upheld the peace these 80 years. In the future, we face many uncertain threats just bubbling up on the horizon.
If you were president, what would you do? Would you be paralyzed in indecision? Or would you take a risk, step out of the Oval Office, and place the future in the people’s hands?
That is what President Biden has done. That is why President Biden is truly “the greatest man in America.” And, as the President himself would say, “that’s not hyperbole.”