Turn of the year: bitter end for Biden

Joe Biden is about to leave the White House, which could hardly be more bitter. The fact that the Democrat has to hand over the reins of office to his Republican predecessor Donald Trump on January 20th is extremely painful for the 82-year-old. Of all people, he who drove Trump from the presidency in 2020 paved the way for his return. His opponent is also likely to use the second term to dismantle Biden’s political legacy – or what is left of it after his inglorious departure.

Biden could have gone down in history as the president who replaced Trump after one term in office and stabilized the country, who led the USA out of the Corona crisis, who restarted the economy, who initiated unprecedented investments in climate protection and infrastructure and, overall, a pretty progressive one Agenda presented.

In terms of foreign policy, Biden repaired damaged relationships with a number of allies, repaired international alliances and tried intensively to expand US influence in the Indo-Pacific region. But he is also responsible for a chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan and was unable to prevent two new wars from starting during his time in office: in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

Biden played a key role in coordinating enormous international support for Kiev in its defense against Russia – but, according to critics, he was too hesitant. He was unable to help Ukraine win or end the war in any other way. Even the most powerful man in the world couldn’t stop the bloodshed in the Middle East.

The Democrat leaves behind a mixed record. He can’t do much in the remaining days. And many substantive successes were already overshadowed by something else for many months of the presidency.

The thing about age

Biden’s age has been an issue from the start of his term. He moved into the White House as the oldest US president of all time. Embarrassing slips of the tongue, blunders, misfires, stumbles and falls continued to increase over the years and ultimately dominated the coverage of him. The fact that it took a public rebellion from his party to force him to withdraw from the campaign for a second term made the whole thing an unworthy spectacle.

Now Biden will go down in history as someone who stumbled badly at the end, but still didn’t want to let go – and thus ultimately made a decisive contribution to Trump’s return to the White House. As a consequence, this also means that many of his initiatives and projects will not last. Trump is likely to reverse or stall many things as soon as he is in power.

Biden devoted much of his life to politics. He was a senator for more than three decades and vice president for eight years. It was only at the third attempt that he managed to reach the highest office. Maybe the fact that it was so hard to get there made it harder to let go. The Democrat himself claimed that he had only decided to run for re-election out of a sense of responsibility. Until the end, he claimed that there was no one in the country better suited for the job who could defeat Trump. That turned out to be presumptuous and resonates for a long time.

Biden is personally to blame for the fact that his party had no alternative candidate and, after his last-minute exit, had to rely on his deputy Kamala Harris, who could not win against Trump. In 2020, Biden ran as a transition candidate – to beat Trump and then pass it on to the next generation. But he did not give up power, clung to his office and failed to systematically groom a successor. That took revenge.

Only after he left the election campaign did Biden remember his commitment from back then and described himself as a “transitional president” in an interview in September. Regarding his withdrawal, he said: “I am at peace with my decision.” No trace of self-criticism.

Of all people, the very man who often talks publicly about virtues such as responsibility, decency and political integrity has to accept the accusation of having lost sight of all of this towards the end. This is also evident elsewhere.

A controversial decision at the end

Shortly before leaving office, Biden surprisingly pardoned his son Hunter in order to spare the 54-year-old a last-minute punishment after two convictions. The president’s son was found guilty of violations of weapons and tax laws. For months, Biden had asserted that he would not intervene in the justice system and would under no circumstances pardon his son. He broke the promise.

Biden referred to his role as a father and issued an unusually wide-ranging pardon for his son. This protects Hunter Biden from ever being charged at the federal level for possible offenses that have occurred over the past almost eleven years. The pardon goes far beyond the specific allegations that have been made against him so far. This raises additional questions about what else Hunter Biden may have to hide.

The move at the end of his presidency brought Biden a lot of criticism – and accusations of hypocrisy. His argument that political opponents had used the judiciary as a weapon against his son and therefore against him was also strikingly reminiscent of Trump’s reactions to any criminal prosecution against him. The pardon leaves a bitter aftertaste.

After a decades-long political career and a finale in a high-tempo job on the world stage, Biden may not find it easy to wind down. The 82-year-old said in a recent interview that he wanted to continue working politically – at two universities and in a foundation. Above all, Biden is a family man. He has seven grandchildren, most of whom he is close to. His eldest granddaughter lived with him temporarily in the White House and is expecting a baby. The outgoing president will soon become a great-grandfather for the first time. That might add to the distraction.