With less than six months left in his presidency, Biden used the prime-time address to defend his record, define his legacy and describe his vision for the rest of his term. He repeatedly called on Americans to take up the mantle of safeguarding the nation’s principles, asserting that as he prepares to exit public life, he was passing the baton to the public.
“The American people will choose the course of America’s future,” he said at one point.
“Whether we keep our republic is now in your hands,” he said at another.
With much of the country’s focus shifted to Vice President Harris’s rapid ascent as the Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, Biden cast himself as a bridge to the next generation of leadership.
“There is a time and place for long years of experience in public life,” Biden said, as family members listened quietly off camera.
“There’s also a time and place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices.
And that time and place is now.”
President Biden told the American public in an Oval Office addresson Wednesday that he had abandoned his re-election campaign because there is “a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices — yes, younger voices.”
His words, lasting 11 minutes in all, were the first extensive ones from Mr. Biden since his decision to step aside, and expanded on his initial announcement, delivered in a post on social media on Sunday, that he was dropping out of the race. His tone was wistful and his speech was an early farewell.
“It’s been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years,” he said.
Sitting behind the Resolute Desk and surrounded by photos of his family, Mr. Biden ticked through the accomplishments of his term, ranging from the choice of the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice to pulling the country out of a paralyzing pandemic. He expressed gratitude to the American people for allowing a “kid with a stutter” from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pa., to reach the pinnacle of American politics.
Just beyond the camera, dozens of aides and several members of his family, including Jill Biden, the first lady, watched as Mr. Biden said he would walk away from the office they had worked to help him reach for decades…..
image….President Biden, seen through a window of the Oval Office, delivers an address to the nation Wednesday night. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)