Chicago
CNN
—
President Joe Biden, overwhelmed by the love of his party, was finally able to become a bridge to a new generation of leaders.
He poignantly performed the most profound act a politician can accomplish in a democracy – the voluntary transfer of power – when he ceded the party leadership to Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention on Monday.
He capped off his 50-year career as senator, vice president and finally president by quoting a verse from a song called “American Anthem,” which he said was very important to his family. “What shall our legacy be, what will our children say, let me know in my heart when my days are done, America, America, I gave you my best,” he said.
In a farewell speech in Chicago that lasted until after midnight on the East Coast, Biden, 81, also placed that legacy – and what he sees as the fate of American democracy – in the hands of the woman he called “Vice President and soon-to-be President Kamala Harris.”
“She’s tough, she’s experienced and she has tremendous integrity,” he said.
“Her story is the best American story,” Biden said. “She will be a president our children can look up to. She will be a president respected by world leaders. … She will be a president we can all be proud of. She will be a historic president who will leave her mark on America’s future.”
Biden’s gesture was particularly poignant as it made him the first incumbent president in more than five and a half decades to put a re-election race on hold.
He was determined to win the second term that all presidents crave, but ultimately, under intense pressure from colleagues he once considered loyalists, he concluded that a younger candidate would be better for his party and the country.
His self-sacrifice was a clear sign that his predecessor, Donald Trump, had made the exact opposite choice. He had done everything he could to stay in power in 2020, against the will of the voters, and is now running for another term that he wanted to dedicate to “vengeance.”
Hours earlier, Trump had repeated the language that drove America into the worst constitutional crisis of the modern era four years ago, suggesting he would accept this year’s outcome only if he believed it was free and fair. There was no evidence that it wasn’t last time, and there’s no sign it will be any different this year.
Biden experienced a colosseum of emotions as he slowly jogged onto the stage after introducing his daughter Ashley, then pulled out a tissue to dab his eyes. A roar of applause gave way to shouts of “We love Joe!” and “Thank you, Joe” from the crowd. Biden took the podium, spread his arms, and soaked up the love. He turned and raised his hands to those in the highest seats in the House.
The president began by reaffirming his decision to run against Trump in 2020 – to ensure, he said, that “hate has no safe haven.” He then portrayed a presidency that began amid the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic as a rousing success that had saved democracy and rebuilt “the backbone of America,” the middle class.
Biden recalled the literal and metaphorical chill of his inauguration and the deep national crisis that prevailed at the time. “Now it is summer, winter is over, and it is with a grateful heart that I stand before you now on this August evening to report that democracy has triumphed, democracy has delivered, and now democracy must be preserved.”
He exuded passion and conviction, proudly delivering words that could have been written for a candidate’s speech if he were still the frontrunner. His voice was strong – in fact, he spent much of the speech shouting. It was a thunderous contrast to the thin tone that derailed his career two months ago with his disastrous performance at the CNN debate against Trump in Atlanta. He fumed as he spoke of the Republican nominee’s lies, the tarnishing he felt the ex-president had caused to America’s image abroad, and the toll of gun violence.
But there were also clues as to why he will not seek a second term. Biden’s age was evident in his sometimes frank old-man gaze. His words were often slurred or he stumbled over a phrase. Biden was destined to age before the eyes of the world. He is no longer “Joey,” the bright, boisterous upstart with the “bright Biden smile” described in Richard Ben Cramer’s classic book, What it Takes. He is no longer even the dynamic, witty senator of the 2008 presidential primaries.
The president will likely deliver a farewell address before leaving office in January. But Monday night was likely his last chance before such a captive live audience. There will be no more State of the Union addresses. This was not a final farewell, but a president in the twilight of his days wrote the first history of his own administration.
Biden was also generous to his chosen successor. All of his triumphs were hers too, he argued, including measures to protect “the freedom to choose, the freedom to love who you love, and the freedom to vote.”
As the crowd chanted “Thank you, Joe,” Biden interrupted: “Thank you, Kamala, too.” That probably pleased Trump, who is trying to portray Biden’s presidency as an inflation-ridden global disaster — in which Harris is fully complicit.
But by leaving now, ending a contest between an 81-year-old and a 78-year-old, Biden has allowed his vice president and the new Democratic nominee to run with the aura of the candidate of change. Trump is struggling to deal with that. In fact, he is having a harder time letting Biden go than the Democratic Party is.
Nevertheless, Harris faces a difficult task. Although she has made a strong start and made up for Biden’s poll deficit, she is neck and neck with Trump in the swing states, and the former president remains a passionate campaigner.
Perhaps the reception Biden received on Monday will ease some of the reportedly still deep disappointment he feels about the end of his illustrious career. But it is unlikely to ease the sense of betrayal in his inner circle toward the elected party officials who cast him aside after his debate performance confirmed voters’ fears about his age. (The key figure in the effort to push him on, Nancy Pelosi, told CNN on Monday that she hoped Biden would “feel the love in this room, it’s overwhelming.” Biden later told reporters he had not spoken to the former House speaker since his decision to drop out of the race.)
For all the admiration that rained down from the rafters of the United Center from party members who have come to believe Biden is a selfless hero and an undeniably great president, the virtual end of his re-election campaign by a party that had expected him to lose is an undeniable act of recklessness.
In First Lady Jill Biden’s brief speech – when she said her husband had to “dig deep into his soul” to decide not to run again – the pain of the past month was palpable. And when Ashley Biden called her father “one of the most important leaders in history,” she seemed to warn the country what it was about to lose.
But the president stressed that he was not angry at those who pushed him aside. He best explained his decision by saying: “It has been the honor of my life to serve you as president. I love the job, but I love my country even more.”
Biden was no longer the last speaker on the last night of the convention, a place reserved for the candidate, but his opening act on the first night. And Air Force One was ready for an overnight flight west to his vacation spot in California. The main business of the convention will now continue without the incumbent president.
The last few months have been brutal for Biden. But he has a deeper understanding of the perfidy of fate than any other living political leader. His entire life has fluctuated between highs and tragedies, as clearly demonstrated by the deaths of his wife and young daughter shortly after his election to the Senate and the death of his beloved son Beau from brain cancer during his tenure as Vice President.
There has long been a feeling among Biden’s fiercely loyal circle of friends and family that he does not get the recognition he deserves in a Washington career that began with Richard Nixon’s presidency. Even when he claimed the Democratic nomination in 2020 at a party convention without the traditional balloon toss and then won the presidency after a lifelong pursuit of the presidency, he was not celebrated with full pomp given Covid-19 precautions.
But the recognition Biden received on Monday will change the way his career will be remembered. Whenever there is a Democratic convention, his speech will be remembered alongside the storied moments of the party’s past.
And when the accomplishments he proudly proclaimed on Monday have faded, Biden will be remembered for generations to come – just as the first President George Washington was – both for the manner in which he left office and for what he accomplished during his time in office.
