President Joe Biden’s farewell this week isn’t just the end to his four years in office, but the capstone of a political career that spanned a half-century, starting as the youngest person elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and ending as the oldest outgoing president in 2025.
In his farewell address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Biden hearkened back even further, to the founding of the country.
“After 50 years at the center of all of this,” he said, “I know that believing in the idea of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society — the presidency, the Congress, the courts, a free and independent press. Institutions that are rooted — not just reflect the timeless words, but they — they echo the words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’”
Working in the Biden White House, I saw firsthand his unwavering faith in the institutions that have allowed this country to persevere through even the darkest times. That faith in institutions will be his legacy, and it is now our mantle to take up.
It wasn’t political theater; it was a statesman who felt the need to step up.
I first met Biden in 2019. When I asked him why he was running for president, he told me what he’s told the American people for six years now: the need to restore the soul of the nation. He talked about the horrors in Charlottesville, our straining world alliances, the need for the country to deliver for the middle class. It wasn’t political theater; it was a statesman who felt the need to step up when the institutions he championed were facing an existential crisis.
It goes without saying this isn’t how Biden envisioned his lifetime of service ending. He secured a transformational legislative record, but also leaves with historically low approval ratings. A painfully public display of betrayal by members of his own party prompted his historic decision to withdraw from the 2020 re-election campaign this summer. His warnings that Trump’s re-election would endanger American democracy seemingly fell on deaf ears as Trump won not just the Electoral College in November, but the popular vote to boot.
A legacy is never determined in the moment.
But a legacy is never determined in the moment. It’s a complex and amorphous thing, constantly re-evaluated as the distance of time paints a clearer picture. I’m confident that future Americans will see him in a better light.
At this moment, ground continues to be broken through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on projects that will culminate in working-class jobs and structures that will stand the test of time. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, American families are estimated to save tens of billions of dollars in electricity bills by 2030 — though Trump’s future administration could begin working to undo that.
Biden even managed to do the unthinkable: pass meaningful gun safety reform at a bipartisan level — a herculean effort that continues to save lives.
But when history judges the legacy of the Joe Biden I sat across from in 2019, I think it will be the battle for the soul of the nation that guided all of those actions that takes center stage. It’s a battle that’s never-ending, and that Biden himself — possibly for the last time as a public official — attempted to enlist Americans in during his farewell speech.
“After 50 years of public service, I give you my word: I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands — a nation where the strength of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure,” he said. “Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame.”
Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt but never got to see the promised land himself. Biden will likely never know if democracy ultimately prevails in the battle for the soul of the nation. In fact, none of us present at this moment will.
That’s because the fight for democracy is never over. Freedom can always recede if it’s not constantly protected by an engaged populace, a free and fair press and a transparent electoral process. Biden understood that; he lived it. History will remember that he rose to meet the moment.
As we see this new chapter of American history being written, may we learn from the power of his example and seek to meet the moment too.
For more thought-provoking insights from Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.
Evan Brechtel contributed.