President Joe Biden will soon deliver his farewell address to the nation, reflecting on his decades-long career in politics on the same day he achieved a major foreign policy goal in the Middle East.
ABC News White House Correspondent Mary Bruce reported that she “certainly will” between the ceasefire and the release of the hostages. Israel and Hamas – he worked for more than a year – becoming a reality a few days before leaving office.
In a letter to the “American people” released by the White House on Wednesday, Biden explained why he sought the nation’s highest office and what it has meant to him over the past four years.
“I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. Our very nature was at stake. And it still is,” Biden said.
“It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for more than 50 years. Nowhere else on earth could a stuttering child from humble beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk. Oval Office As President of the United States,” Biden wrote. “I have given my heart and my soul to our nation. And I have been blessed a million times over by the love and support of the American people.”
The speech comes in a few hours Biden celebrated The deal between Israel and Hamas comes after months of political backlash at home over the international conflict.
Biden was personally involved in the negotiations and said they were “some of the toughest” of his career, but said he was “very happy” with the outcome.
“It has been a time of real turmoil in the Middle East, but as I prepare to leave office, our friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there are real opportunities for a new future,” he said.
President Joe Biden makes remarks regarding the recently announced cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the White House on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Biden has spoken more broadly about his foreign policy footprint and some of his domestic achievements as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over power to President-elect Donald Trump.
Wednesday night’s Oval Office address will provide a larger audience for Biden as he reflects on his legacy.
Polls show Americans have a mixed view of his four years in office. One last Gallup poll found that 54% of US adults think Biden will be remembered as a “below average” or “poor” president; 19% say they will be remembered as “outstanding” or “above average” and 26% think they will be “average”.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary of the White House, called the upcoming statements “an important moment” for the “president”.
“It’s not just about the last four years of his administration, he’s going to leave his career,” Jean-Pierre said in his final speech early Wednesday. “In over 50 years of public service, what this president has done as senator, vice president, president.”
“So you can imagine that the president has a lot to say,” he said, “a lot of thoughts that he wants to share that really touch on the moment we’re in right now.”
