From The Guardian by David Smith – Thanks to Frank C.
To admirers, Biden will remain one of the most consequential one-term presidents in US history – to detractors, he was undone by a fatal flaw
His back straight, his voice steady, Joe Biden stood at the US Capitol just days after a violent insurrection and declared: “Democracy has prevailed.” Fast forward three and a half years and America’s president cut a different, diminished figure. “We finally beat Medicare,” he muttered in confusion in Atlanta, Georgia.
From the soaring hopes of inauguration day to that grim debate night against Donald Trump, the very public decline of the 46th president had the makings of an American tragedy that paved the way for the return of Trump to the White House.
To his admirers, Biden will remain one of the most consequential one-term presidents in US history, having rescued the nation from a pandemic, steered major legislation through a divided Congress and created nearly 17m jobs. But he was assailed by high inflation, illegal immigration and the inexorable march of time.
To his detractors, this was a stubborn octogenarian undone by a fatal flaw: having promised to be a transitional figure, he did not know when to let go. And when he finally did, it was too late.
Charlie Sykes, a conservative author and broadcaster, said: “It’s hard to escape the conclusion that, as Biden is leaving office, he’s less transformational figure than historical parenthesis because ultimately he failed to meet the political moment or the essential mission of his presidency. The prime directive of Joe Biden’s presidency was to prevent Donald Trump’s return to power and his failure to do that is likely to be his lasting legacy.”
When Biden departs Washington on Monday at the culmination of a career spanning more than half a century as senator, vice-president and president, the old maxim that all political lives end in failure will hover over him. He will be 82, the oldest president in US history and the first great-grandfather to hold the office. Democrats will long agonise over why his age and fitness for office did not become a political emergency until it was too late.
It is easy to forget now the malaise that Biden inherited. In that inaugural address in January 2021, he spoke of four crises: the coronavirus pandemic, climate, economy and racial justice. Standing on the spot where just two weeks earlier a pro-Trump mob had sought to overturn his election win, Biden also promised to restore the soul of America.
It would be, in many respects, a presidency of two halves. Biden hung a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt above the fireplace in the Oval Office and acted with a scale and speed that delighted progressives and knocked opponents back on their heels. (continued)