Tuesday August 20, 2024
By Matt Viser
“My dad used to have an expression,” the president said. “He’d say, ‘Joey, family is the beginning, the middle and the end.’”
President Joe Biden speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
CHICAGO — President Joe Biden, for several moments, couldn’t speak. At first, it was because he was dabbing his eyes. Then, it was because the cheers were so sustained.
“Thank you,” he said nearly two dozen times, unsuccessfully trying to begin his speech amid a sea of “We love Joe” signs.
His wife, first lady Jill Biden, kept crying. His daughter, Ashley, dabbed her eyes. His son, Hunter, looked on from backstage. The crowd was electrified, eager for a cathartic moment after a weeks-long barrage of can-you-believe-this moments. Biden looked out at his family, who have been a backbone of his career and sounding board for the most difficult decisions of his political life.
“My dad used to have an expression,” he said. “He’d say, ‘Joey, family is the beginning, the middle and the end.’”
Biden has played many roles over his long career. He was introduced as the “young fella” in his 1988 presidential campaign. He was the foreign policy statesman during the eight years he served as vice president. And he was the elder wise man during his 2020 presidential campaign.
On Monday night, as he took the stage for his 13th Democratic National Convention, he was the torch passer. He tried to occupy this new role, one that required a recognition that his time as the party’s chief standard-bearer was nearing an end. He spoke to a crowd that Democrats compared to those of 1960 and 2008, but with the recognition that the catalyst was not him but the new optimism and joy that have overtaken the party since he stepped aside and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.
For much of Biden’s presidency, Harris has been the understudy. As vice president, she is often in the background, never wanting to appear to overshadow the principal.
That relationship has been shifting for weeks now, but never more clearly than when Harris took the stage early Monday evening. She urged the crowd — her crowd, at her convention — to start the week by paying homage to the president.
“I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden, who will be speaking later tonight,” she said. “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all you will continue to do. We are forever grateful to you. Thank you, Joe.”
“Thank you, Joe Biden, for your leadership,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said shortly after.
“Let’s salute President Joe Biden,” Hillary Clinton said. “He has been democracy’s champion at home and abroad.”
As the evening switched to focus on Biden, his family was a constant presence. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) quoted Biden’s mother (“You’re defined by your courage and redeemed by your loyalty”), talked about Biden’s record, and thanked Jill Biden as the crowd held aloft green signs that read, “JILL.”
His daughter Ashley introduced him with tales of how he “is the OG girl dad” and how he remains her best friend.
But the program dragged on so long that Biden’s remarks fell outside of prime-time television coverage on the East Coast. He didn’t take the stage until 11:25 p.m. Eastern time.
Chants of “Thank you Joe! Thank you Joe!” broke out throughout the night, and resumed as he took the stage. At one point, television cameras pointed toward Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker who played a critical role in signaling that Biden should drop out of the race, as she chanted the words. The two longtime allies haven’t spoken in weeks, and Pelosi has publicly expressed worry that their relationship may be irreparably damaged.
At one point, Biden reflected on the reports of divisions and sought to bat them down. “It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president,” he said. “I love the job, but I love my country more. … And all this talk about how I’m angry at all those people who said I should step down — that’s not true.”
Biden has often used public speaking to mark major moments in his life. He has used speeches not only to outline policy or ask for votes, but also to express grief or vent his emotions. He prepared for Monday’s speech as he had for most others, gathering several senior advisers — in this case longtime adviser Mike Donilon and speechwriter Vinay Reddy — and bouncing ideas around with historian Jon Meacham. Several hours before the speech, he walked across the convention stage. Asked if it was bittersweet for him, he responded, “It’s a memorable moment.”
A reporter asked if he was ready to pass the torch.
“I am,” he said.
But rarely has he faced a moment like the one he saw Monday night.
The crowd loved him. Some loved him for his career as a top Democrat and as party standard-bearer. Some also loved him for making the decision to step aside.
His family, though, loved him for being a father, a husband, and a grandfather. Biden has often idolized, and sought to emulate, the Kennedys. For much of his career he thought that his eldest, Beau, would succeed him. He thought Beau would be the one who would be president, the one who would carry the political banner for the family.
After Beau’s death in May 2015, the patriarch sought to live up to his late son’s wish that he stay engaged and keep his purpose in life. That initially meant writing books and giving speeches. It eventually meant launching a presidential campaign in 2019, his third attempt to win the nation’s highest office.
Jill Biden, during her remarks, pointed to her husband’s moments of humility, and reflected on the moment a few weeks ago when he ended his reelection bid.
“I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris,” she said. “With faith and conviction, Joe knows that our nation’s strength doesn’t come from intimidation or cruelty. It comes from the small acts of kindness that heal deep wounds.”
In the Biden family, Beau Biden’s memory is not far away. And Jill Biden invoked him and the friendship he forged with Harris.
“Our son, Beau, first worked with Kamala when he was attorney general of Delaware,” she said. “He told me at the dinner table one night. Mom, she’s special. Someone to keep your eye on. And he was right.”
Ashley Biden also mentioned Beau, and how they recovered from the devastating loss.
“Dad knows that family is everything. When Hunter and I lost our brother Beau to cancer in 2015, the grief and the pain felt like it might never end,” she said. “Dad had the capacity to step out of his own pain and absorb ours. And I know that Beau is here with us tonight as he is always with us.”
As Biden got to the end of his speech, he ended where he began, his eyes near tears.
“I made a lot of mistakes in my career. But I gave my best to you for 50 years,” he said. “Like many of you, I give my heart and soul to our nation.”
And he grew wistful of the circumstances that have changed over the past few weeks.
“I've either been too young to be in the Senate because I wasn't 30 yet or too old to stay as president,” he said. “But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.”
As he concluded, his family joined him onstage and he soaked up the moment. Harris joined him in a long embrace.
The convention will continue on Tuesday, with remarks from former president Barack Obama, and on Wednesday, with the vice-presidential acceptance speech from Tim Walz. Thursday will be marked by Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech.
But Biden will be long gone. After his speech on Monday night, he was scheduled to board Air Force One to start two weeks of vacation in California and at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. His family will join him.