I’ve recently read dozens of Progressive tributes to Joe Biden’s career-long selfless concern for the country, punctuated by many comparisons of his decision not to continue his Presidential campaign with George Washington’s refusal to start one.
These Biden apologists never mention Biden’s 2019 promise that he would only serve one term – as “a bridge” – apparently to assuage those who noted he was already too old to regularly climb up his basement steps.
We need to remember that Biden (quite unlike Washington) defiantly refused calls to abandon his campaign for many weeks after his disastrous debate performance. Suddenly, we are to revere him for honoring his pledge? He’s like George Washington because he was forced to quit by his party and the legacy media?
Let’s look a little more deeply at the Presidents to whom Joe could be compared based on a decision to only serve one term, their stated reasons for doing so, and ask whether they had to be forced to resign as a candidate. Who are those “very rare in the annals of history” who went before?
George Washington gets an exception from the one term pledge, because Biden’s boosters used him as the pinnacle to which Biden had ascended:
Washington believed in the importance of a peaceful transition of power and wanted to set a precedent against a life-long presidency. He was ready to return to private life at Mount Vernon.
Many of Washington’s supporters and fellow Federalists urged him to run for a third term, thinking the young country needed his continued leadership.
James K. Polk:
Polk had accomplished his major goals in one term. He believed in rotation in office and was exhausted from the demands of the presidency.
Polk had made it clear from the beginning of his presidency that he would only serve one term.
There’s little evidence of pressure on Polk to run again. He had been steadfast in his one-term pledge.
Rutherford B. Hayes:
Hayes pledged to serve only one term during his campaign, partly to help heal the nation after the contested 1876 election. He stood by this promise.
Some Republican Party members urged Hayes to reconsider his one-term pledge.
Calvin Coolidge:
After the death of his son in 1924, Coolidge fell into a depression. He famously stated, “I do not choose to run for President in 1928,” and later wrote that he no longer felt up to the task of being president.
There was considerable support within the Republican Party for Coolidge to run again in 1928. Many party leaders and supporters tried to persuade him to change his mind.
Harry S. Truman:
Truman’s popularity had significantly declined by 1952 due (mainly) to the Korean War. He claimed he had “lost the confidence” of the people and that it was time for new leadership.
Despite his low approval ratings, some Democratic Party leaders did encourage Truman to run again.
Lyndon B. Johnson:
Johnson’s decision was largely due to unrest over the Vietnam War. He said he wanted to devote his full efforts to seeking peace without the distraction of campaigning.
His poor performance in the NH primary as an incumbent certainly had… influence.
Before his announcement not to run, some party members were urging him to step aside due to the Vietnam War’s unpopularity, while others still encouraged him to run.
Joe Biden:
Citing the “existential danger” of a second Trump Presidency, which only he could counter, Biden refused to honor his pledge.
After weeks of drama, he was forced out by threat of the 25th Amendment. The closest comparison might be LBJ, certainly none of the others.
Joe Biden is well known, to put it politely… as a serial fabulist. He was forced to drop his 1988 Presidential campaign over plagiarizing a British politician’s speech. He’s been a vicious partisan attack dog for his whole career. His has made his fortune in influence peddling. He stopped his campaign because his body and his mind are failing. He was not being encouraged to ignore his one term pledge by his party or its media arm:
Comparing him to Washington is pure, insulting fantasy.
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