Much attention is being given to the legacy of former President Jimmy Carter who died this past week at the age of 100.
What I have read has been an expression of appreciation for the man he was, and rightfully so. He was an example of a politician who maintained his personal integrity when most don’t, and humbled himself (along with his wife, Rosalynn) to help build houses for the poor after he left office.
But as we begin this New Year, I want to call attention to another president, namely, Joe Biden.
It is often the case that people realize after the fact that they were fortunate to have had a leader they never fully appreciated at the time.
That, I believe, will be the case with President Biden.
History will certainly place him high on the list of effective presidents who achieved more in four years than most achieved in eight.
But it will not take that long for Americans to realize just how lucky we were to have had a man with the character and political skills as Joe Biden to lead our country.
Say that to the average person right now and they will look at you as if you’re a blind partisan out of touch with reality, given that Biden’s approval rating stands at 37% and his disapproval rating is 57%.
But those numbers say more about us than they do about him. I won’t bore you with the details, but the list of his accomplishments is genuinely incredible, especially given the odds he faced with a Republican controlled House and the Senate filibuster (here’s one reference you can check out that tells some of the story of what he has done: https://www.aftvotes.org/biden-harris-accomplishments).
None of what he has done was for show, which is why the positive positive impact of his presidency is only now being felt, with the lion’s share to be felt over the next few years.
The fact is, Biden chose to do the hard work of laying solid foundations that were necessary for the long-term well-being of the nation rather than being showy and shallow. In short, his policies focused on behind the scenes work rather than surface matters.
He didn’t manipulate economic factors, for example, to bring down inflation short term, but focused on using the Federal Reserve interest rates to do the job in order to deal with it in a lasting way.
But we Americans like instant gratification. We want what we want now. So Biden (and Kamala Harris) have paid the price, something the future will show to be radically short-sighted.
That’s a battle lost for now with no need to fight it again. We can leave that to the future which has a way of exposing foolishness and redeeming ignored wisdom.
For now, as we begin this New Year, I simply want to express my gratitude to Joe Biden not only for what he has done for his country, but for the man he is.
He has been and has always been an example of a politician who puts country before self, whose commitment to public service has been sincere and steady.
That is why he remained presidential and dignified while Republicans in Congress tried to attack his character for showing unconditional love to his son, Hunter, going so far as to trump up fake charges to use as a basis for impeachment.
You remember Alexander Smirnov? Of course, you don’t. He’s the former FBI informant Republican representatives James Comer and Jim Jordan claimed had evidence that the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, had paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each in 2015.
Turned out Smirnov was lying, something the FBI tried to tell Comer and Jordan before they began their self-serving anti-Biden crusade, but they refused to listen.
Smirnov, by the way, recently pleaded guilty for, you guessed it, lying to the FBI just as the Bureau had told Republicans.
During it all, Joe Biden continued to focus on his job rather than responding to or attacking Republicans for their smear campaign. That’s the kind of man he is, something we can be assured we will not see in the next four years.
In many ways the entire Biden presidency has been as much about our national character as his, and he has come out looking far better than we have.
In history his story will be of a president who did far more to benefit us, the American people, than the majority of us ever understood or appreciated.
The simple truth is, history will judge Joe Biden more generously than it will us as a people.
No matter because he continues to believe more in us than most of us believe in him. It’s just who he is, who he has always been, a man who stands by his commitments, and never gives up on the people he loves.
That’s how he has treated Hunter throughout his troubled life, and that is how he treats all Americans.
As Joe Biden’s presidency comes to an end, I cannot be more grateful that he has led us these past four years with integrity, steadfastness, and stunning political savvy.
I dread what is to come, but today I simply want to give thanks for having been privileged to live during Joe Biden’s presidency history will record as among the best ever.
In her book, A Man For Others, Patricia Treece tells the story of Maximillian Kolbe, the German martyr who was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz for his defiance of the Nazi’s where he voluntarily took the place of a young man with a family who was about to be sent to the gas chamber.
It earned Kolbe the title, “Saint of Auschwitz.”
I mention Kolbe, not to suggest Joe Biden is a saint, he would be the first to say he is far from it, or even to suggest that what he has done as president rises to the level of Maximillian Kolbe’s self-sacrifice.
But he has certainly shown the nation and the world what a president can do for his people when his efforts are focused on them rather than himself.
For that reason I believe he has earned the right to be called “a man for others,” perhaps in these contentious times the highest compliment an American politician can be given.
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