President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver a prime-time farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, capping off his five-year political career, just days before he leaves the office he has long revered, only reluctantly.
The White House would not say what Biden plans to say in his 8 p.m. ET speech. But in his final months, he has sought to solidify his legacy as a transformative president, stabilizing politics at home while solidifying U.S. leadership abroad, steering the country out of the pandemic and investing in infrastructure and clean energy. Made historic investments and worked to strengthen democratic institutions nationally and globally.
In a letter released ahead of his speech earlier Wednesday, Biden said the United States is “stronger, more prosperous, and more secure” than four years ago.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve this country for more than 50 years,” Biden wrote. “There is no other place on earth where a stuttering kid from humble beginnings in Scranton, Pa., and Claremont, Del., could one day sit behind a determined desk in the Oval Office and serve as President of the United States. I have I have given my heart and soul to our country and in return have been blessed a million times with the love and support of the American people.
“History is in your hands,” he added.
Whatever image the president wanted to project on Wednesday night, the backdrop was that he was leaving office in deeply unpopular circumstances and handing power to his successor, Donald J. Trump, who despised Trump. Trump has repeatedly said he is unfit to hold power.
Even the location of the speech, behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, was a reminder that Mr. Biden is not gone as he had hoped. He last spoke on prime time in July, when he spent 11 minutes explaining why he was withdrawing from the presidential race under pressure from his own party amid growing questions about his age and suitability for re-election.
Since Biden dropped out of the race, and especially since Trump won the election in November, the president has struggled to maintain attention.
Robert Schlesinger, author of “The Ghost of the White House: Presidents and Their Leaders,” said: “Farewell addresses are challenging because they aim to deliver a message for a country at a time when much of the country has already entered the next era. The era comes to an end.
The farewell address was one of a series of speeches Biden delivered in his final days in office, a tradition that dates back to George Washington. He took turns highlighting domestic achievements, such as his “historic” conservation record. In a speech on foreign policy at the State Department on Monday, Biden said he has solidified the United States as a global leader and put it in a stronger position with allies and foes alike than it was four years ago. He will give at least two more speeches this week and is expected to continue to demonstrate that he has made generational progress as president.
In a speech last week, he remained defiant about the presidential race, saying he believed he could defeat Trump and that his decision to drop out was motivated by a desire to unite Democrats.
“I think I would have defeated Trump, could have defeated Trump, and I think Kamala could have defeated Trump,” Mr. Biden said, adding: “I think it’s important to unite the party. Although I think I could have done it again win, but I think Fine Gael would be better.
Mr. Biden has told donors that he intends to remain involved with the party after leaving office. Asked last week what role he planned to take after leaving office, he responded: “I will not be ignored and I will not be forgotten.”
Presidents have used their farewell addresses to reflect on their records and warn of the challenges ahead.
In his farewell address in 2001, President Bill Clinton warned his successor not to undermine America’s economic prosperity and global influence. In 2009, President George W. Bush gave a somber speech, acknowledging the “setbacks” he had encountered during his eight years in office but expressing hope that Americans would understand that he had done what he believed was the right thing. Before handing power to Trump in 2017, President Barack Obama warned that economic inequality, racism and closed-mindedness threatened democracy and unity.
Trump, politically isolated and facing impeachment after a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, told supporters gathered to watch him take off from the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in his 2021 farewell address: “Goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form.
Historians say Biden’s speech may be reminiscent of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address, which is considered one of the most memorable since George Washington. Like Biden, Sir, like his farewell address, was delivered after half a century of public service.
Eisenhower biographer William Hitchcock said he expected Biden to make implicit references to dangers to democracy and the “spirit of service,” if not explicitly contrast him with Trump.
“It makes sense that he would say goodbye in a personal way, focusing on a life of public service – he really dedicated his life, and indeed the lives of his family, to this country,” Mr Hitchcock said. “I think sacrificing and serving was something he enjoyed doing. The contrast between him and his successor was obvious to his audience. It wasn’t something he had to do.
Both Biden and Eisenhower left after the election of their handpicked successors, the vice presidents, lost. But Mr. Eisenhower, then the oldest president in office, did not explicitly criticize his younger successor, John F. Kennedy, even though he had a low opinion of him.
But he said the gravity of the moment was clear.
“It’s a painful transitional moment,” Mr. Hitchcock added, “just like Eisenhower.”
