October 15, 2024 - 11:45am
Just weeks ahead of the election, President Joe Biden is deeply conscious of his legacy. Abroad, he is grappling with two hot wars that broke out during his time in office; at home, he must contest with the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland since Katrina two decades ago. As he smarts from the embarrassment of reluctantly ceding the nomination to Vice President Kamala Harris, the 81-year-old’s emphatic legacy-building will have policy consequences, for better or worse.
Just last week, the Financial Times reported that the US is preparing to push through a significant G7 loan to Ukraine despite Hungary thwarting conditions set previously by the Biden administration. âThe US has been put under pressure to deliver the same amount the EU is planning to provide,â an EU official told the FT. âSo much money is needed, and attacks in Ukraine are continuing. Itâs a nightmare.â
This is not a war with an end in sight, despite years of vigorous effort on Biden’s behalf to fuel a Ukrainian victory. A multi-billion-dollar loan will not ensure Russia’s rapid surrender either. It could, however, help shift the momentum enough for Biden to leave office on a high note in January, and help curry favour with policy elites who will one day deliver critical judgments on his tenure.
Similarly, even as Biden works desperately to achieve a ceasefire in Israel, negotiations appear to be at a total impasse. Just last week, a Pentagon spokeswoman insisted, âI can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,â in reference to the latest iteration of ceasefire talks. Shortly afterwards, the Wall Street Journal published a major report revealing that âafter months of saying a ceasefire and a hostage-release deal was close at hand, senior US officials are now privately acknowledging they donât expect Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement before the end of President Bidenâs term.â
It’s possible Biden will keep pushing hard to secure a deal in the Middle East, fuelled in part by the implications for long-term perceptions of his time in office. But given how unlikely that is, progress on Ukraine and domestic policy have become more important for him.
At home, Hurricane Helene’s death toll is now over 250 people. This was swiftly followed by Milton, which killed another 20 and caused millions of dollars’ worth in damage. Biden is battling the awkward tension between his Vice President running on a change platform while also campaigning on their purported successes. Harris, despite hailing Biden’s presidential achievements as âunmatched in modern historyâ, seems desperate to distance herself from ongoing wars, economic dissatisfaction, and the unpopular spike in immigration.
It all appeared to boil over last week during a briefing on Hurricane Milton, when Biden seemed to suggest Harris unfairly criticised Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. In the aftermath of that dust-up, Axios published a story which claimed that âthe relationship between Kamala Harris’ team and Joe Biden’s White House has been increasingly fraught in the final weeks before Election Dayâ, according to â10 people familiar with the situationâ.
Biden began his term by consulting with historian Jon Meacham, who helped write the President’s inaugural address. âThe two bonded over their shared belief that Biden is a historically consequential figure in the fight to preserve American democracy,â Alex Thompson reported in 2023.
Back in 2021, Peter Baker of the New York Times wrote that âin the weeks before taking office, President Biden and his aides spent time digging into books about Franklin D. Roosevelt, both biographies and volumes exploring his iconic first 100 days, on the theory that no president since then has taken office with the country in a crisis quite so grave.â According to Axios, Biden actually started a sentence in a meeting with Meacham and historians just weeks after taking office by saying: âI’m no FDR, but […].â
It’s important to remember the conditions under which Biden was ousted from running again, and it’s unclear how lucid he is on any given day. From his earliest moments in office, though, the President and his team worked intentionally to build his legacy. Ultimately, it may have actually been legacy concerns that convinced him to pass the torch to Harris. Biden was stuck in a Catch 22: damned if he stayed and lost the election, damned if he dropped out and lost the nomination. His goal now is to make the most of it.
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SubscribeHmmm, let me distill this into one hasty thought. Harris is as dumb as a box of rocks and Joe was shafted by her and the senior Dems. He might as well try to shaft her and see how it lands.
I think you’re right and I find it interesting to read and listen to the various talking heads of American political journalism and thinkery express their confusion about why Biden is doing things that seemingly hurt Harris’s campaign. They seem genuinely confused. I’m not!
I agree. There is no way that Biden wants Harris to win. That is obvious from this side of the Atlantic.
Joe’s got a mean streak wide as Ol’ Man River. He will have trouble hiding his glee when Kamala is crushed by the landslide.
If only he would expose the recent party machinery actions as his final service to the Nation, then fully half or more of the country might sincerely honor his service.
From before the start of his administration, it was apparent to many, if not all, that he had done a disservice to the country by accepting the consequential role as POTUS while knowing his faculties were diminished. With each passing month, he surely saw his mind an body declining. Hubris and ego may have blinded him to his responsibilities.
Once elected and confirmed, though, he was captive in the tower. The party machine (and DJT’s clumsy boorishness) had placed him in the throne with a clever fool for a VP. It’s tragic that his time remaining in office thereafter — preventing further ascension of the fool — may have been his best, most patriotic service to the Nation.
It’s not ‘tragic’, it’s ‘magic’! But yes, his increasingly obvious undermining of that dingbat is a worthy action in the twilight of his term. Even Bill Clinton has joined in (under instructions from Hillary, probably).
I suspect Biden will vote for Trump or Stein. There is no way he wants to see Harris win.
Biden’s legacy?
The ultimate lame-duck president, resulting in the ascension of Kamala Harris several dozen places above her level of ability.
She would have difficulty as a night time lamppost polisher.
Willie Brown might disagree with that.
She blows The Peter Principle right out of the water.
Joe was screwed by his own side and everyone knows it. Jill is even more aware of it. And before he was shoved aside, Kamala was perhaps his biggest liability. That’s a lot of motivation for NOT helping her and the party out.
Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history. Thatâs a kind of legacy.
Heâs number one!
Agreed. The quote â The two bonded over their shared belief that Biden is a historically consequential figure in the fight to preserve American democracy,â Alex Thompson reported in 2023.â is the most laughable line of the week. His legacy is a disaster for Americaâs middle class, trashing of the 1st amendment and the start of WWIII.
And Admiral ‘Rachel’ Levine.
If Biden is a historically consequential figure it is because his Presidency has been a disaster.
Biden leaving office on a high note? Where did UnHerd find this ignoramus?