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On Sunday, President Joe Biden gave up his bid for a second term in the White House. The decision to leave the race as concerns about Biden’s mental and physical fitness mounted was the right one. Frankly, it should have been made months ago.
At the age of 81, Biden was the oldest person to run for president in U.S. history. Now Donald Trump, who is 78, is the oldest person in the race. Beyond his age, there are dozens of reasons, including his recent felony conviction, his disdain for democratic norms and his pledges to punish his political enemies, that make Trump unfit from the presidency.
As recently as earlier in the weekend, Biden sounded determined to continue his presidential campaign. However, as more and more Democratic leaders spoke out and more and more people expressed concerns about his candidacy, he must have finally become aware that his continued campaign could have increased the chances of a second Trump candidacy. When he quit the presidential race on Sunday, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Although it comes late and plunges the Democratic Party into some disarray ahead of its national convention next month, Biden’s decision to step aside is the mark of a statesman.
Putting the good of the country above one’s own ego cannot be an easy decision. But, it is one that Biden deserves credit for making. Biden, who has endured significant and repeated personal tragedy, should be remembered for his life of public service, including his 36 years in the U.S. Senate, two terms as vice president and his term as president.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
Biden took over the presidency in January 2021 as the COVID pandemic raged when fear and uncertainty hung over many Americans and the country’s economy had cratered. Just weeks before his inauguration, hundreds of protesters loyal to Trump had stormed the U.S. Capitol. They ransacked congressional offices, pledged to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence and sought to stop the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won. Trump, according to testimony from his staff to a congressional panel that investigated the events of Jan. 6, 2021, gleefully watched the mayhem at the capitol and didn’t ask his supporters to stop the violence for hours.
Biden could not heal an America this divided, but he did return competence, calm, empathy and dignity to the White House.
Working with congressional Democrats, and sometimes with moderate Republicans like Sen. Susan Collins, he was able to pass monumental legislation. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, making significant investments in transportation, broadband, energy and the environment, and other nationwide projects. Maine will receive more than $2 billion through the legislation. Biden also helped broker an agreement that averted a debt ceiling crisis that could have damaged the U.S. economy.
Biden also oversaw passage of the most significant legislation to combat gun violence in decades, although even that effort was modest.
The Inflation Reduction Act included the largest ever investment in domestic and renewable energy, while also reducing drug costs.
During Biden’s presidency, NATO was strengthened and enlarged to combat the growing threat from Russia, a threat exemplified by its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. He returned the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement, recognizing that climate change is a significant problem and showing that the U.S. aims to play a leading role in addressing it.
In part because of Republican obstruction in Congress, Biden failed to make significant progress on border security and immigration reform, although a recent executive order to restrict the number of asylum seekers allowed into the U.S. should help. Some efforts to reduce student debt failed court challenges.
After four years of dysfunction and bluster during Trump’s time as president, Joe Biden was, as he pledged before being elected in 2020, a “bridge” president, who moved America to a more stable and economically prosperous place. By stepping aside, he also fulfills his pledge to be a bridge to a new, younger generation of leaders.
