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As the sun set on his presidency, Joe Biden took the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night for a valedictory address that was both a celebration of his tenure and a passing of the torch to his successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a speech that ran nearly 50 minutes, the 81-year-old Biden struck an emotional and occasionally defiant tone, at times fighting back tears as he reflected on his long career in public service. "It's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president," Biden told the cheering crowd. "I love the job, but I love my country more."
Biden's speech came after a tumultuous month that saw him abruptly drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, with party elders like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi determining that concerns over his mental acuity made him unfit to lead the ticket against Donald Trump. Biden had won the party's primaries handily, but the calculus shifted as polls showed a potential Trump landslide amid voter doubts about the president's cognitive state.
In his remarks, Biden struck a proud, valedictory tone, touting his legislative accomplishments like the bipartisan infrastructure law and declaring that "COVID no longer controls our lives" and that "we finally beat Big Pharma." But he also acknowledged the toll the presidency had taken, noting at one point, "I'm so damn old."
Biden's daughter Ashley introduced him before the speech, hailing him as "one of the most consequential leaders ever in history" despite being "underestimated his entire life." First lady Jill Biden also spoke, recounting the emotional moment weeks earlier when she saw her husband "dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek re-election."
The outgoing president saved some of his sharpest words for his longtime political foe Trump, whom he labeled a "loser" and "convicted felon." He also took aim at the January 6th rioters who stormed the Capitol, saying he had sworn his oath "in front of a city surrounded by the National Guard, behind me a Capitol that just two weeks before that had been overrun by a violent mob."
As Biden concluded his address, Harris and her running mate Tim Walz joined him on stage, receiving a rousing ovation from the crowd. The torch had been passed - a bittersweet moment for the man who had been preparing to accept his party's nomination just weeks earlier. "Democracy has prevailed," Biden declared. "Democracy has delivered. And now democracy must be preserved."
