Biden will give a farewell speech, capping a 5-decade political career

President Biden plans to deliver his first farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, capping his five-decade political career just days before he leaves an office he has long respected and just don’t want to leave.

The White House will not say what Mr. Biden plans to say in his speech, set for 8 p.m. Eastern. But in his final months, he sought to cement his legacy as a transformative president who stabilized domestic policy and strengthened America’s leadership abroad, bringing the country out of the pandemic. made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy, and worked to strengthen. democratic institutions both nationally and globally.

In a letter released early Wednesday before his speech, Mr. Biden said the country is “stronger, more advanced and safer” than it was four years ago.

“It has been the privilege of my life to serve this country for more than 50 years,” Mr. Biden wrote. “Nowhere on earth can a stuttering kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States.” Claymont, Delaware. I have given my heart and soul to our country. And I have been blessed a million times over by the love and support of the American people.”

“History is in your hands,” he added.

Whatever image the president wants to portray on Wednesday evening, it is set against the background that he left office unpopular and handed the reins to a successor, Donald Trump. J. Trump, whom he despised and said time and time again that he does not deserve to be in power. .

Even the location of the speech, from behind the Decision Desk in the Oval Office, is a reminder that Mr. Biden is not leaving on his own terms. His last speech to the Prime Minister there was the 11 minutes he spent in July explaining why he was withdrawing from the presidential race under pressure from his own party as questions mounted about his age and ability to other time periods.

Since Mr. Biden left the race and especially since Mr. Trump won the election in November, the president has struggled to keep the limelight.

“Farewell speeches are difficult because they aim to set the stone for an era when most of the country has already moved on to the next,” said Robert Schlesinger, author of the book “White Ghosts House: President and their Speechwriter.”

The farewell address, a tradition that began with George Washington, was one of a series of speeches Mr. Biden gave on his last day in office. He took turns highlighting his accomplishments at home, such as the “historic” savings record. In a speech focused on foreign policy at the State Department on Monday, Mr. Biden said he had strengthened America’s position as a world leader and left it to the stronger position with allies and enemies than four years ago. He will give at least two more speeches this week where he hopes to continue to make the case that as president he has advanced a generation.

And in remarks as recent as last week, he challenged the presidential race, saying he believed he could beat Trump and that his decision to leave was motivated by his desire to unite the Democratic Party.

“I think I would have beaten Trump, I could have beaten Trump, and I think Kamala could have beaten Trump,” Mr. Biden said, adding: “I thought it was important to bring the party together. .Although I thought I could win again, I thought it would be better to unite the party.

Mr. Biden has told donors that he plans to stay with the party after he leaves office. Last week, when asked what role he planned to play as president, he replied: “I’m not going to be out of sight or out of my mind.”

Former presidents have used their farewell speeches to reflect on their record and warn of challenges ahead.

In 2001, President Bill Clinton used his farewell address to warn his successor not to slow down the nation’s economic growth and global presence. In 2009, President George W. Bush gave a mournful speech in which he acknowledged the “backsliding” of his eight years in office, but said he hoped Americans would understand that he had done what he thought was right. Before he nominated Mr. Trump in 2017, President Barack Obama warned that economic inequality, racism and foreclosure threatened democracy and unity.

In his 2021 farewell address, Mr. Trump, politically isolated and facing impeachment after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters, told the supporters who gathered to watch him step off the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. : “Goodbye. We love you. We’ll be back in some form.”

Historians say Mr. Biden’s address may be reminiscent of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s, considered one of the most memorable since George Washington’s, and that, like Mr. Biden, after half a century of public service.

William Hitchcock, Mr. Eisenhower’s biographer, said he would expect Mr. Biden to make subtle, if not overt, references to the dangers of democracy and “being here in the service.”

“Maybe he could say goodbye personally, focus on public life — he literally gave his life and his family’s life to this country,” Mr. Hitchcock said. “And I think that making sacrifices and service is something that annoys him. The opposite of his successor will be obvious to his listeners. It’s not something he has to do.”

Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Eisenhower left after the election of their successors – their vice presidents. But Mr. Eisenhower, who was the oldest serving president at the time, did not directly criticize his young successor, John F. Kennedy, even though he thought little of him.

But the intensity of time will be felt, he said.

“It’s a bittersweet time of transition,” Mr. Hitchcock added, “just like it was with Eisenhower.”