In that Oval Office address, Biden didn’t sound like a politician managing an exit; he sounded like a man confronting his limits in front of millions. Admitting that “the defense of democracy is more important than any title,” he tried to turn personal vulnerability into a final act of public service. For some, it was an overdue reckoning with age and capacity. For others, it felt like a wrenching surrender under relentless pressure, a moment when partisan warfare finally forced a human breaking point.

Yet as he recalled his path from Scranton to the Resolute Desk, Biden anchored his withdrawal in the American story he has always believed in: that improbable journeys are possible, and that no office is bigger than the republic itself. His departure doesn’t calm the storm; it intensifies it. But it also leaves behind a stark, unavoidable question: what kind of democracy do Americans truly want to defend now?