President Joe Biden’s appearances on his final circuit of town this week, where he gave goodbye remarks to his military leaders, diplomatic corps, and the general public, belied a sobering reality: This is not how he had thought his half-century career in Washington would conclude.

Reluctantly leaving office on Monday, Biden is adamant that he had more to give and more to achieve, even if he is unsure if his health and enthusiasm would have held up.

He will carry with him a track record of success as well as residual bitterness about how his political career ended. Many in his party accuse him of giving the White House to Donald Trump, and he no longer communicates frequently with those former supporters who forced him out of the race. Additionally, he will leave with a tense relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is his №2 and replacement on the ticket.

His arch-enemy Trump now controls the capital city that will be out of sight as he takes off in his helicopter, and Biden worked hardest to stop his return to Washington. He will be remembered as an interim president between two administrations headed by a guy he once called a fascist and a menace to democracy, rather than as an American statesman who defeated Trump once and for all, as he believed he had following his 2020 triumph.

In one of his final public appearances as president, Biden addressed mayors on Friday, saying, “While my term in office is ending, the work continues.” “You keep up the good work.”

Biden’s one term was filled with events.

He brought the nation out of a pandemic that defined a generation, but a jump in inflation, partly caused by his stimulus spending, kept the mood of the country from completely improving.

He repealed Trump’s cruel immigration rules, but he later reinstated many of the same restrictions when a spike in illegal crossings at the southern US border put a burden on state resources and sparked anger.

He became the first president in decades to conclude the country’s longest war without passing the Afghanistan War on to his successor. However, the withdrawal was disorderly and fatal, and many Americans began to doubt his abilities.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, US alliances were reestablished on the basis of shared cause. But with no obvious conclusion in sight, the war rages on. In the Middle East, he must reluctantly give Trump some credit for completing the deal, even though an eleventh-hour ceasefire was reached in Gaza in exchange for hostages.

New industrial and infrastructure investments in the United States have stimulated new industries and produced thousands of new jobs. However, even according to Biden himself, the advantages of his record won’t materialize for years to come.

After Trump’s years of breaking the rules, he brought some regularity back to the office, but he disregarded the public’s concerns about his senior age and broke a promise by forgiving his son Hunter.

“The seeds are sown.”

When his policies take effect and Americans can benefit from his many achievements, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., who entered Washington as the youngest senator in the country in 1972 and departs as the oldest president, hopes that history will remember the good things about his time in the White House and erase the bad.

“The full effects of what we’ve done together won’t be felt right away. During a 19-minute farewell speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, he stated, “But the seeds are planted and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come.”

Many Biden supporters were taken aback by the speech since it was not a litany of achievements meant to cement his reputation as a one-term leader. Rather, Biden spent a large portion of his speech warning about the growing “tech-industrial complex,” which is controlled by oligarchs and undermining democratic institutions. (Biden and his fellow Democrats have long depended on the financial backing of billionaires, particularly those from Silicon Valley and Wall Street, according to critics.)

However, that does not imply that he is not considering his position among the 45 previous presidents of the United States. Biden, conscious of his legacy, is overcome with emotion in the final days of his presidency.

In an attempt to solidify his agenda prior to Trump’s arrival, he has taken a number of executive orders on foreign policy, immigration, and the environment. under addition to issuing thousands of commutations and dozens of pardons, he is currently considering whether to offer preemptive pardons to certain political supporters who might be prosecuted under the Trump administration.

Advisors claim that he goes down memory lane even more frequently than usual since he works tirelessly to remind people of achievements that, in his opinion, haven’t received enough credit. Advisors say he fluctuates between furious and nostalgic when he is in the West Wing.

A senior White House official told CNN, “He’s always frustrated that we didn’t tell a good enough story about what the administration did.” “Not receiving what is rightfully his is his grievance.”

Allies contend that when the programs he implemented pay off, history will see his presidency more favorably.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) told CNN, “I don’t think historians are going to be dealing with sound bites and whether or not you mangled a preposition or phrase.” “They will deal with the substance, and I believe that Joe Biden will receive excellent treatment due to the substance.”

His own communication flaws and the potential that he could have improved his legacy and his party’s chances of winning by abandoning or terminating his reelection campaign much earlier than he did are not brought up, at least not directly to Biden.

The fact that so many of their Democratic allies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appeared to turn their backs on Biden following his disastrous debate against Trump in June still hurts Biden and his family.

First wife Jill Biden told the Washington Post this week, “Let’s just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded.” “I gained a lot of knowledge about human nature.”

Biden has quietly told some colleagues and allies since the November election that he thinks he might have won the race if some party officials hadn’t pushed him out. The president also made the remark during a White House holiday dinner, according to a Democratic lawmaker, who described the event as “awkward and clearly misguided.”

Biden also started expressing his opinions out loud this year, saying in an exit interview with USA Today: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes, based on the polling.”

Naturally, the survey revealed no such thing.

Conflict with Harris

In the final days of their White House collaboration, Biden’s statements that he could have defeated Trump serve as a constant reminder that Harris did not, which has further strained their already tense relationship.

According to a former Harris aide who spoke to CNN under condition of anonymity to discuss the strained relationship between the two and many of their devoted supporters, “whether he intends it or not, it’s a sign of disrespect.”

According to officials, Biden has not publicly criticized Harris or the campaign she led, and he has not meant for his remarks to be interpreted that way. However, despite his repeated remarks, many Democrats have taken offense.

According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Biden and Harris discussed his remarks regarding the election after the USA Today interview was released last week. Two days later, Biden made a small linguistic change in response to reporters’ questions about whether he really thought he could have defeated Trump.

“I believe that I could have defeated Trump,” Biden stated. “I believe Kamala could and would have defeated Trump.”

Some of Harris’s advisers and supporters, who went to considerable measures to show their support for Biden by refraining from criticizing or separating themselves from him throughout her 107-day presidential campaign, were still enraged by her response.

Because the vice president has asked her aides to treat Biden with dignity as he departs office, another former Harris adviser, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “She was loyal to her detriment.”

However, his remarks have gone viral on message boards and in discussions, especially the wording he used when asked if Harris ought to seek the Democratic candidacy again in 2028.

Biden said to reporters late last week, “I believe she is capable of running again in four years.” “She would have to decide that for herself.”

Harris, for her part, has supported the president both in the Oval Office, sitting a few steps from the Resolute Desk, as he gave a final primetime address to the country, and in the Cross Hall, when Biden announced a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East.

Biden and Harris’ relationship “is just fine,” according to a senior Democratic official close to them, but it was unavoidably difficult when she returned to the White House after running for president. In the last days of their relationship, the adviser likened the dynamic to that of Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

“Resuming the №2 position is never easy,” the Democratic adviser remarked. “Trump makes things even more difficult.”

Members of Congress and other Democratic officials expressed their desire for the nation and the party to move past the devastating 2024 election defeats.

“Now that it’s over, it kind of doesn’t really matter, does it?” California Democratic Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove said. “We must move on since this is our reality. None of that even crosses my mind.

There was no benefit to concentrating on the president’s remarks or the historic Biden-to-Harris candidate exchange from last summer, according to Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Summer Lee.

“What Biden believes he could have done or couldn’t have done doesn’t really matter to me. or anyone else,” Lee said to CNN. Why should we pay attention to it? You should, could, woulda. The election was lost by us.

The manner Harris and Biden have spent their last days in the White House is somewhat indicative of the different routes they will follow after they are no longer working together.

Having just become a great-grandfather, Biden will enter private life after spending the better part of the last 50 years in public duty. One of his priorities will be to raise the millions of dollars required to construct a presidential library. He’s probably going to write another book.

Biden told reporters last week, “I’m not going to be out of sight or out of mind,” but it’s unclear how he intends to be heard in the months and years following his departure from office.

Harris, who is 22 years younger than Biden, must make different choices. Few people think her political career is done; following an assessment period, she might run for governor of California in 2026 or possibly for president again in 2028.

In keeping with a decades-old custom, she signed her desk at the White House on Thursday and reminded staffers, “It is not my nature to go quietly into the night.” “So don’t be concerned about that.”