Biden's farewell: Leaving to Kamala Harris the race he wanted to run

After nearly four years as the most powerful person in the world, four weeks after a disastrous debate, and four days after announcing he wouldn't seek another term in the White House, President Joe Biden defended his record and fought to remain relevant.

He outlined some big ambitions for his final months in office − ambitions that history and common sense say will be hard to achieve.

"I believe that my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future, all merited a second term," the 46th president said in an 11-minute Oval Office address to the nation Wednesday night. He acknowledged that voters didn't seem to agree, though, that he was on a path to lose in November to an opponent he says would endanger democracy itself. "Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition."

His words were poignant, his manner somber. But the low timbre of his voice and his occasional stumble over the words he was reading from a teleprompter were reminders of the concerns about his age that had undermined his bid for a second term.

“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation," Biden, 81, said in an echo of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. He called it "a time for new voices, for fresh voices, yes, for younger voices."

Biden had announced on Sunday that he would become the first president since 1968 to choose not to run for another term. But his diagnosis with COVID-19, and the isolation that followed at his vacation home in Delaware, delayed the speech for four days − a speech he didn't want to give.

That delay inadvertently underscored how quickly the attention of the country is moving on from Biden's tenure to the fierce battle between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to succeed him. His announcement energized Democratic voters, fueled record-setting campaign donations and almost instantly united the party behind his replacement.

'Doing my job' for another six months

There's still time for him to make a difference, Biden said.

“Over the next six months I will be focused on doing my job as president," he said. He said he would battle gun violence, call for Supreme Court reform, press efforts to end cancer, keep NATO powerful and united, work to end the war in Gaza and more.

But the prospects for passing significant legislation through a Republican-controlled House in the next few months is dim. While lame-duck presidents often turn to foreign policy as territory where they can still exert influence, his power to pressure foreign leaders will be complicated by their interest in and calculations about the contenders to lead the next administration.

He endorsed Harris on Sunday, and he praised her in his speech as experienced, tough and capable.

For Biden, the durability of his legacy is now in her hands.

Harris' election in November would ratify the wisdom of Biden stepping back, even belatedly, and put in office a successor with a consistent agenda and commitment to preserving his achievements.

But her defeat this fall would fuel blame aimed at Biden for his decision last year to seek a second term, despite concerns about his age from the start. It would put back in power Trump, who has mocked and derided Biden's agenda and vowed to dismantle it.

It was just the fourth time Biden had addressed the nation from the Oval Office, a more solemn venue than the sunlight and greenery of the Rose Garden.

Biden had used the Oval Office for a speech just three times before to speak to the American people − first at a time of triumph, when the Fiscal Responsibility Act had finally passed in June 2023. Then on two more calamitous occasions, to discuss the Israeli-Gaza conflict four months later, and just 10 days ago to address the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

President Lyndon Johnson already had delivered messages from behind his desk 26 times − on topics from race riots on U.S. streets to bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia − when he scheduled an Oval Office address in March 1968 to talk about the Vietnam War.

To the astonishment of even some close aides, LBJ closed the 40-minute address by announcing he would devote the rest of his term to seeking peace, not another term. "Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president," he said.

The discouragement of history for lame ducks

Biden's speech was shorter, and his message didn't come as a surprise. Like LBJ, though, he vowed to pursue big goals in his final months in the White House.

History isn't encouraging when it comes to big ambitions for lame ducks.

Even the phrase "lame duck" doesn't sound promising − literally, a duck with a game leg, a target for predators because he can't keep up with the rest of the flock. The phrase was coined in the 18th century at the London Stock Exchange to describe a stockbroker who defaulted on his debts, then was adapted to American politics in the 19th century.

In 1968, Johnson was unable to achieve his stated goal of achieving peace in Vietnam; that was left to successor Richard Nixon. In 1952, Harry Truman as a lame duck tried and failed to end the war in Korea; that was achieved by successor Dwight Eisenhower. In 2000, Bill Clinton's intensive efforts at a Camp David summit to reach a comprehensive agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians came close but fell short.

The exception was George W. Bush, who in the final months of his tenure in 2008 faced a financial crisis and was forced to back a huge bank bailout that most of his own party opposed.

Not the legacy he wanted, either.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's farewell: Leaving to Kamala Harris the race he wanted to run