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Biden leaves behind a complicated legacy of legislative wins and economic gains, along with a trail of fractured relationships and grievances within his own party, writes NBC News.
Joe Biden ascended to the highest office in America with a pledge to unite the country, strengthen his party and defend democracy. Instead, in the 82-year-old’s Oval Office denouement, he leaves a nation divided, a party in tatters and the American people questioning the self-described institutionalist’s respect for the rule of law.
Many Democrats are blaming Biden for handing the White House to Donald Trump, criticizing the aging politician for staying in office too long and reeling after he pardoned his son. Exacerbating the frustrations, Biden recently expressed doubt about his ability to serve another four years after dismissing voters’ concerns about that very issue as he sought re-election.
The president harbors similar resentment toward members of his own party. After the November election, he privately mused about the idea of pardoning Trump as a magnanimous move, according to a person directly familiar with his comments, though it’s not clear he seriously considered it. A White House official said “to our knowledge, this was not raised.” At the same time, Biden is not on speaking terms with some of his closest allies.
It is all an inglorious coda to five decades in public office.
“The Joe Biden story is one of the great tragedies of American politics. I really mean that. He should be having a glorious, well deserved, highly acclaimed retirement. And he’s not,” veteran Democratic political strategist James Carville said. “It’s hard to blame anybody but him.”
In the White House, the mood feels “like a morgue,” according to a person who recently met with officials there. Biden leaves office feeling he contributed significant wins for the country that Americans don’t appreciate. Privately, he has vacillated from feeling melancholy to resigned to angry to wistful as he reflects on his legacy, two people close to him said.
“He’s totally dejected and the people around him are, as well,” another person close to the president said. One White House official attributed the glum atmosphere to Trump’s impending return to the Oval Office and noted that Biden’s aides warmly reacted with cheers when he surprised them at a staff party earlier this week.
Another White House official depicted personnel as holding back on emotions until Jan. 20 actually arrives.
“It’s hard to reflect, it’s hard for it to sink in that we’re done here — until we’re actually done and out the gates with our stuff,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. That’s their mood… it hasn’t sunk in for people who are still here yet because we’re working until the last minute.”
Once the elder statesman who was to serve as a bridge to the next generation of leadership, Biden departs with an array of fractured relationships. He is estranged from some of the people who were once among his most powerful allies. He harbors, along with first lady Jill Biden, a simmering resentment toward former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several former aides, including Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn, all of whom he believes either failed him or pushed him out of the 2024 race, according to several people close to him.
One former top Obama aide who publicly argued after the June debate that Biden should drop out pointedly noted this week that Biden recently named aircraft carriers after former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, he has not offered any similar honor to Obama.
“Barack H. Obama did not get a f---ing personnel carrier named after him,” Ben Rhodes said on the podcast “Pod Save The World.”
Critics have relentlessly hit Biden for softening border policies early on in his administration, prompting a surge in illegal crossings. While he later tightened controls at the border, public opinion had already swung against him.
Some Democrats said Biden missed the mark early on when it came to the economy. He should have spent more time railing against greedy corporations rather than trying to convince the public the economy really was better than it thought, said Pete Giangreco, a veteran in presidential Democratic politics.
A longtime ally, prominent Democratic donor John Morgan, said that Biden is right to feel bitter by the lack of fanfare around his presidency, pointing to massive investments in infrastructure, a booming stock market, low unemployment and for having navigated the pandemic “masterfully.”
“Objectively, I believe it was a great presidency. You know they believe it. You can hear it in the president’s voice,’” Morgan said. “You look at all the statistics and it’s like: ‘Why aren’t you all carrying me on your shoulders?’”
In the immediate term, it has all done little to move the public. Biden is poised to leave office with a 36% approval rating, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday. Low approval numbers dogged him throughout his presidency and now he’s particularly smarting over leaving office without his standing with Americans having improved, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“Joe Biden had many successful acts in his life. Unfortunately, you get remembered for your last act,” Carville said. “Right now, he’s remembered as the guy who stayed too long.”
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