Biden's legacy: Will his choice to step aside change his place in history?

Mike Bebernes

President Biden on Wednesday night discussed publicly for the first time his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election, calling it a choice he made “in the defense of democracy.”

“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” he said during a short address from the Oval Office.

Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he would step aside to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket dramatically reshaped the presidential race. Democrats have rallied en masse behind Harris, and former President Donald Trump has had to abruptly refocus his own campaign to take on a new opponent.

The decision has also changed the tenor of conversation around Biden himself, who had been plagued for weeks with concerns from within his own party that he did not have the capacity to sustain a winning campaign against Trump. Now, the president is being heaped with praise by his fellow Democrats for, in the words of former President Barack Obama, “putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own.”

Biden’s choice to “pass the torch” will undoubtedly be a key part of how his presidency will be remembered. But how it will affect his overall legacy is a source of a lot of disagreement.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the reaction has broken down along partisan lines. In the eyes of some Democrats, Biden’s decision will go down as one of the most selfless acts of any American president and serve as a perfect capstone to the 50-plus years he has dedicated to serving the country. Republicans see it as the ultimate proof that his presidency has been a failure.

Some political commentators argue that the most immediate thing Biden has done for his legacy is to spare himself the possible indignity of losing to Trump in November, effectively allowing the “threat to democracy” that he’s spent so much time warning about to become a reality. Pundits on the left also say that Biden will now be remembered as a “bridge” to a younger, more diverse generation of Democratic leaders exemplified by his choice of Harris to succeed him at the top of the party.

Biden’s conservative critics make the case that Biden waiting until this late in the campaign to step aside shows that his decision wasn’t about what’s best for the country or his party, but that he finally came to grips with the reality that he couldn’t win. They also argue that the public will never forgive him for, in their view, hiding the extent of his physical and mental decline from the nation until it could no longer be ignored.

Historians tend to take the longer view. They argue that a president’s legacy is largely defined by how much of what they did endures after they’ve left office. In their eyes, Biden’s place in history depends entirely on the outcome of the election. If Harris wins, she will keep both his vision for America and the long list of policies he enacted intact. If Trump wins, he’ll be in a position to erase much of what Biden has set in motion over the past four years.

Biden has cemented himself in history as a man who always put the country over himself

“Here is Joe Biden’s legacy: He beat back America’s first authoritarian attempt. And when he realized that he could not do it a second time, he stepped away so someone else could. This is enough to make him … our greatest living president.” — Jonathan V. Last, Bulwark

Biden held on for way too long to get credit for unselfishness

“He only gets half the credit because his timing worsened his party’s chances of retaking the White House. The public saw his cognitive decline years ago … but he put his own ego and sense of legacy ahead of what the party needed: a lengthy primary to choose an adequate successor.” — Christian Schneider, National Review

At the very least, Biden has avoided the worst-case scenario for his legacy

“Had Biden stayed in the race and lost, he could no longer have claimed victory in the battle he declared on behalf of the soul of America. Now, America’s soul has a fighting chance.” — E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post

Biden will be remembered as the man who cleared a path for a new generation of leadership

“This is, as Biden would say, ‘a big f***ing deal.’ Biden made history choosing Harris as his running mate, and he’s ensured his legacy in history by endorsing her immediately.” — Joan Walsh, The Nation

History’s view of Biden’s decision depends on who wins in November

“The election results will determine Biden’s legacy. … [He will go down in history] either as a president who sacrificed his personal ambition for party and public interests or as a president whose reluctance to allow a leadership transition prevented his party from waging the strongest possible campaign for the White House.” — Meena Bose, presidential historian, to New York Times

There’s nothing heroic about giving up when it’s obvious that failure was inevitable

“Most Americans did not want Biden to run again and did not think he could handle the job. For almost the entirety of his presidency, Biden’s approval rating has been underwater. … Give Biden credit for bowing to the inevitable. But the man is no George Washington, and it is silly to claim otherwise.” — Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe

By stepping aside, Biden gave his policy legacy a chance to carry on

“Historians judge great presidents by whether their ideals, policies and programs endure. The verdict on whether Biden has been a great president will begin to be written the day after the November 5 election.” — Bruce Wolpe, political scientist at the University of Sydney, Conversation

One act can’t erase four years of failure

“On every topic — the economy, foreign policy, social issues — his administration has let America down. That won’t be fixed by him stepping aside.” — Editorial, New York Post

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Corbis Historical/Corbis via Getty Images, Ron Sachs/CNP/Getty Images, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

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