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news analysis
“Thank you, Joe!’’ the crowd members chanted to a tearful president for his lifetime of public service. But they were also thanking him for not running again.
By Peter Baker
Reporting from inside the United Center in Chicago
Aug. 20, 2024Updated 5:53 a.m. ET
When the crowd members in the United Center first chanted, “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!” on Monday night, President Biden looked down, fought back tears and soaked in the admiration.
But he knew. He might not have wanted to admit it. But he knew. They were thanking him, yes, for what he accomplished during a lifetime in public service. But they were also thanking him, let’s be honest, for not running again.
It is hard to think of a more bittersweet moment for a president who spent more than a half-century on the stage only now to be involuntarily shown the exit. The warm bath of affection in Chicago, real as it may have been, could go just so far to salve the wounds of the past few weeks.
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Biden Delivers Keynote on First Night of D.N.C.
In his speech, which lasted nearly an hour, the president touted his accomplishments, attacked Donald Trump and passed the baton to Kamala Harris.
“We love Joe.” “America, I love you. Let me ask you, are you ready to vote for freedom?” “Yeah!” “Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America?” “Yeah!” “Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz –” “Yeah!” “president and vice president of the United States? Because of you, we’ve had one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period. When, I say ‘we,’ I mean Kamala and me. Donald Trump calls America a failing nation. He says we’re losing. He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong. Donald Trump says he will refuse to accept the election result if he loses again. Think about that. He means it. Think about that. All of us carry a special obligation. Independents, Republicans, Democrats. We saved democracy in 2020 and now we must save it again in 2024. Folks, we just have to remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. And there’s nothing we cannot do when we do it together. God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.”
As much as they cheered Mr. Biden and waved their preprinted “We ♥ Joe” signs, the thousands of Democrats gathered for their quadrennial national convention were sending him off to the presidential retirement home four years before he was ready. Mr. Biden found himself demoted from speaking as the presidential nominee on Thursday night, when as recently as a month ago he had expected to address the convention, to Monday night, an evening usually reserved for the party’s past stars.
Mr. Biden, 81, gave little indication that he was ready to go. While he made a couple of self-deprecating jokes about his age, he barely alluded to his decision to step aside under pressure from fellow Democrats worried that the struggles of the oldest president in the nation’s history would sink the party. When he did, he simply framed it as an act of sacrifice to save American democracy from former President Donald J. Trump.
English (US)