By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will tell Americans on Wednesday night it is time to “pass the torch to a new generation” in an Oval Office address to explain why stepped aside from the 2024 in what amounts to a long goodbye after a 50 years of public service.
“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America – lies in your hands,” Biden will say, according to speech excerpts released by the White House ahead of his 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT/Thursday) speech.
It will be his first extended public remarks since he relented to pressure from fellow Democrats and announced on Sunday via social media that he had decided not to seek reelection on Nov. 5.
Biden is the first incumbent president not to seek reelection since 1968 when Lyndon Johnson, under fire for his handling of the Vietnam War, abruptly pulled out of the campaign on March 31.
Besides Johnson, Biden joins James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B. Hayes, Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman, who all decided not to stand for a second elected term.
“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation,” he said in the speech excerpts.
Biden faced calls to step aside after his rocky performance in the June 27 debate against Republican Donald Trump raised troubling questions about his mental acuity. The White House has denied that Biden has any cognitive issues despite a recent increase in verbal slipups.
Biden will say he will focus on his job as president over his remaining six months in office.
It will be the fourth time Biden will use the formal setting of the Oval Office since taking office in 2021. His last Oval Office speech was on July 15 when he urged Americans to cool the political rhetoric after the attempted assassination of Trump.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Leslie Adler)
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