Feb 7, 2023 -
Honoring his campaign promise to serve as a transitional president, Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election the following year during his State of the Union address.
Having recently celebrated his eightieth birthday, Biden was in fine form during one of his brighter appearances. The timing was perfect, his penultimate State of the Union address provided a golden opportunity to define his legacy by highlighting a series of proud achievements for the American people. He was the first president to serve with a female vice president, and he signed significant legislation, including the American Rescue Plan Act. Additionally, aspects of the failed Build Back Better Act were incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act. But, for many, his greatest accomplishment for the republic was his contribution to democracy by unselfishly opening the door to a competitive primary season that allowed several prominent figures to step forward and vie for the nomination.
Following the tragic death of his beloved son Beau in 2016, Biden found it difficult to follow Obama and stepped aside for Hillary Clinton's campaign that ultimately led to a Republicans win. Biden received a second chance to beat Trump, and there was a broad consensus that he was a winner. His departure from politics on a high note after half a century of public service included two unsuccessful presidential races (1988 and 2008) and actually began on another terrible note of tragedy, the death of his first wife and daughter. But if he was an "oldie but a goodie," there were unmistakable early warning signs of trouble ahead--not just the failure of the Build Back Better Act, but also because the 2023 State of the Union was the first address to a Republican-controlled House of Representatives since 2018. As events were to transpire, the challenges for the Biden administration began to surface well before the primary season started.
In retrospect, Biden might have better served partisan interests by making the more cynical but less democratic choice to resign. Had he done so, he would have become the only president to do so other than Richard Nixon because of the Watergate scandal. This tough decision would have given Kamala Harris sufficient time in office to build her own record of accomplishments and properly establish her leadership credentials. Some may argue that she had not achieved enough during her time at the White House to deserve that opportunity. While this is a matter of semantics, a resignation would have positioned Biden as a handover president rather than a transitional president. At the time, his decision to remain was well-received as a departure from the party's recent history of favoring elite candidates.
Author's Note:
In reality, he initially ran for reelection and, after the Democratic primaries, became the party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election. After his performance in the first presidential debate, renewed scrutiny from across the political spectrum about his cognitive ability led him to withdraw his candidacy.
Provine's Addendum:
While some political kingmakers had dreamed of Harris being set up for an easy victory in 2024, the Democratic primaries turned into a frenzied free-for-all. The prevailing voices proved to be in opposition of longtime Washington politicians, ready to move on from the Obama-era tradition and fearing another rallying cry of "drain the swamp" from Republicans. When the dust settled at the Democratic National Convention, the ticket proved to be Shapiro/Kelly with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mike Kelly facing off against Trump/Vance in November. The national election became a drawn-out fight, but public opinion shifted toward the Democrats following Shapiro's out-pacing of Trump in the debates and the Dem campaign's push to make Trump's age an issue. With Shapiro managing to pull Pennsylvania voters to his side and Kelly doing the same with Arizona, a narrow victory in Michigan won the election for Democrats. The results, of course, were immediately appealed for review.
