Standing behind a lectern at Washington’s National Capitol last Thursday, Joe Biden delivered a eulogy for former President Jimmy Carter as three other former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — and former and future President Donald Trump looked on.
Every president that has seen the election has achieved the endorsement of the American people (re-election to a second term), which Biden has not. And as Biden, whose term ends next week, paid tribute to Carter, the one-term president, it was hard not to draw other parallels.
“A lot of people think he was from a bygone era, but he actually had a good vision of the future,” Biden said of Carter. He went on to highlight Carter’s achievements in advancing civil rights, his work for peace and nuclear non-proliferation, and his efforts to protect the environment.
Earlier this week, however, Biden made a case for his own legacy and how history should judge him.
