The Case For Joe Biden

Historically, when political parties run a competitor against their own incumbent President, that sitting President goes on to lose in the general election. Bluntly, the calculus is that Biden has the best chance of defeating Trump, having beaten him before. If the Democrats challenge Biden in the primaries, that likely ensures a second Trump Presidency. If you are part of that diminishing few who actually cheer another Trump swing at autocracy. This essay is almost certainly not for you….

Why should Joe Biden be your choice to lead America through the next four years? Both likely candidates are old. Yet, apart from his age, some people criticize Joe Biden’s presidency on policy grounds. Frankly, to me, that doesn’t make much sense. Sure, if you’re a Republican, you are probably not going to share Joe’s political perspective any more than a Democrat would be enthused over Mike Pence’s political and social outlook. But a lot of Biden’s achievements are triumphs irrespective of one’s political orientation.

President Biden has presided over an economy that’s staged a miraculous recoverery from the staggering beating it took during the pandemic. Indeed, our economy has surged over the last two years. The Biden administration has fostered more job growth than at any time in American history. Unemployment is near an all-time low. One can blame Joe for inflation, but Presidents are no more responsible for those kinds of perturbations in the economy than they are for snow storms in the winter.

Biden ended our 20 year war in Afghanistan. Resurrecting the arsenal of democracy, he’s led the free world in stopping Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in its tracks. He helped strengthen and grow NATO. He’s revived our leadership in the world. He’s resuscitated our commitment to combatting climate change and has set firm deadlines toward the conversion from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. He is rebuilding America’s manufacturing industry. Specifically, he is bringing the most advanced microchip fabrication back to the United States. He’s walked the picket lines with striking Union workers. He has championed deep reductions in patient pharmaceutical costs. He has protected the middle and working classes from tax increases. He’s extended the reach of healthcare and assistance to veterans. After decades of promises by prior Presidents on the Left and the Right, he has actually undertaken the first national infrastructure creation and rebuilding program since the Great Depression. He continues fighting to mitigate the crushing? burden of student loan debts on young Americans and their families. And he’s done all this and more while operating under the burden of a 40% popularity rating and pernicious partisanship.

Significantly, Biden has kept America out of war. In spite of all his threats, Putin hasn’t detonated a single tactical nuke or released any lethal biological or chemical agents. China has not invaded Taiwan. North Korea has not sent any ICBMs our way. And Iran has neither built nor deployed a single weapon of mass destruction. Some critics have complained that Joe should have acted sooner or more forcefully in Ukraine, while other fault-finders insist that he should not have supplied any assistance to the Ukrainian people at all. In my humble view, our President used his experience and wisdom to stand by our friends and to thwart the dangerous ambitions of our adversaries. As I write this piece, two US carrier strike forces are on station near Israel to support our ally.

Yes, Joe is old. And I believe that each new generation is entitled to choose leaders from within their own ranks. Barack Obama was just 47 when he was sworn into office in 2009. Bill Clinton was just 46 when he was inaugurated the first time. John Kennedy was 43 when he took the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. Should Biden die during a second term, he would be succeeded by a VP who is still in her 50s.

Even so, youth is not an antidote to error. When JFK was elected, I was just a middle schooler, but I couldn’t have been prouder to witness the inauguration of our first Catholic President. He was the youngest man in history to be elected to America’s highest office. Handsome and intelligent, he wielded his celebrated wit to the consternation of his opponents and to the delight of his fans. Presidential press conferences were “must-see-TV.” And his brave and steady hand prevented a nuclear holocaust in 1962. Still, he made mistakes, like the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Inexperience haunted Jack’s Presidency. He was unable to get any significant legislation through Congress. It was Jack’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, who year after year pushed landmark bills through the House and Senate… bills that had languished in committee throughout JFK’s Presidency.

Every decade in one’s life offers promise and disappointment. Youth carries equal shares of vitality and inexperience. Seniority conveys both wisdom and proximity to death. But death in office is as common to younger Presidents as to their older counterparts. Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were assassinated at ages 56, 49, 58 and 46 respectively. Four more Chief Executives died in office of natural causes. President Harrison passed away at age 68 from pneumonia that he contracted while delivering an overly long Inaugural Address in freezing cold weather. President Taylor succumbed to cholera and gastroenteritis at 65 years of age. President Harding died as a result of a heart attack at 57. And Franklin Roosevelt did not survive a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 63 years old when death claimed him.

Some of you may be worried about Joe’s ability to discharge his duties as President. You may equate age with senility or decrepitude. The fact is that infirmity and illness are no respecters of youth or charisma. JFK suffered from a serious and debilitating condition called, Addison’s Disease…that and his badly damaged back required him to take a veritable pharmacopoeia of drugs. Woodrow Wilson suffered an incapacitating stroke two years before his second term of office ended. Ronald Reagan was exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s well before the end of his Presidency. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in order to protect the republic against an eventuality where the Commander-in-Chief is unable to perform his or her duties. It is our safeguard against all manner of vicissitudes that may afflict a President of any age or political stripe.

Finally, every one of us is a complex mosaic of flaws and virtues. Imperfect by design, we try our best to overcome the obstacles and challenges that beset us and achieve the goals established by our individual character. It is within Joe’s character…that unique interplay of passion and conviction, that I place my trust. Joe Biden is a good and decent human being…qualities that are desirable in every woman or man, and that are utterly indispensable in a President. Considering the probable alternative, is there really a choice?