Well, our election year is not “all over but the shouting,” as the old saying has it. There is still plenty of shouting, much of it nasty and unnecessary, to come. But we have reached a turning point of sorts in this campaign.
Both parties now have official nominees for president and vice-president. Whichever party wins in November, we will enter a new era in American political history. We have yet to discover the nature of this new era, but we would be remiss not to end this period of our political history with a bipartisan chorus of good wishes and a hearty “hail and farewell” to our departing chief, President Joe Biden.
Joe Biden held elective office at the federal level from 1973 to 2024, over fifty years. He withdrew his election bid in July “not because he loved the White House less but because he loved America more.” Those are not the words of some “woke” liberal, but a tribute from Armstrong Williams, a syndicated conservative Republican political commentator. He is an African-American entrepreneur who managed Ben Carson’s campaign in 2016.
Williams made an interesting point about Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, noting that Biden’s “self-sacrifice was unique in the annals of the presidency.” Woodrow Wilson did not leave office until the end of his term in 1920, even though he had a disabling stroke in October 1918. Franklin Roosevelt was also quite ill in 1944 when he ran for a fourth term that ended with his death in April,1945.
Because of his long service to his country, Williams called Joe Biden “an American hero in his own way,” the nicest thing Biden has probably heard from a Republican this year. He added that Biden “has earned honor and respect for tenaciously defending his family through thick and thin.” Williams also recalled Biden’s “profound personal tragedy a lesser man could not have surmounted,” referring to the death of his wife and daughter in December, 1972 after his election to the Senate, and later the death of his son Beau from brain cancer.
Joe Biden should also be given credit, Williams tells us, for bringing Sweden and Finland into NATO and for imposing “harsh economic sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, which has crippled Russia’s oligarchs and created a brain drain of Russia’s brightest and best.” He also liked the fact that President Biden helped isolate China and sent arms to Taiwan.”
Clearly, Williams is not one of the “America First” isolationists who support Donald Trump.
Williams also added that by appointing Deb Haaland and Alejandro Mayorkas to his cabinet and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Biden made “the corridors of power in the executive branch look more like America.”
Mr. Williams’ appreciation of Joe Biden’s virtues is balanced by his belief that President Biden made “many fumbles” dealing with immigration and what he called Biden’s “radical social or cultural policies.” Of course, he also sees Kamala Harris as being “saddled with defending” Biden’s mistakes.
Given the level of political polarization in the United States, I admit to being just a bit shocked by Armstrong Williams’ opinion. I even googled information on Williams to be sure that he was a Republican. I cannot picture him wearing a red MAGA cap. Williams is clearly one of those old-fashioned “Real Republicans.”
How nice it would be if other political figures had Williams’ ability to criticize opponents policies without insulting them, besmirching their character, and questioning their humanity with childish name-calling.
In any case, it is now time to thank Joe Biden for his long life of service to our nation. He should be allowed to leave the stage with pride and dignity. His action in ending his campaign for a job that he loved and performed with much success showed real courage and self-sacrifice.
I can do no better than to repeat what Armstrong Williams offered in his last words on Biden: “Biden can truly say ‘I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.’” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Godspeed, thanks, and farewell to a “good and faithful servant.”
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