Jonathan V. Last posted two videos of President Biden speaking. One took place in April 2023, when he spoke in his ancestral hometown of Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. He received an ecstatic welcome from the locals. Biden’s voice was strong and clear. He was vigorous and joyful. He was not senile then, he’s not senile now. But he has aged.

Last wrote:

I’ll always remember Joe Biden in Ballina. 

It was nighttime. America’s last great Irish pol was visiting the county of his forebears. A bunch of local Irish notables gave boring remarks in front of an ancient stone church. There was a minute of restless silence. Then the music hit. 

Suddenly the Dropkick Murphys are blaring from the speakers. Lasers and lights cut through the evening mist.

And Joe Biden strides out in a black longcoat like a damn WWE star to the single biggest pop I’ve seen in politics.

Absolute legend.

That was 15 months ago. Only 15 months ago.

The President Biden we saw last night was a different man. We can all see the physical changes. But where the Biden in Ballina was exuberant, sharing a once-in-a-lifetime moment of pure joy, the Biden of last night was doing something different and infinitely more important. He was teaching his country a lesson.

It was, on the surface, a valedictory speech with boilerplate about what his administration accomplished. But under the hood, the important stuff wasn’t so much a valediction as a homily. He was talking directly to Americans not about the job he’d done, but about our jobs going forward.

Two sections are worth clipping and saving.

The first was the part where Biden explained why he stepped aside:

When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us. Those of us who [cherish] that cause cherish it so much. The cause of American democracy itself. We must unite to protect it.

In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.

So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there was a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.

I submit to you that no other president in our lifetimes would have believed that he was replaceable. None of those guys could have even countenanced the idea that the country might be better served if he passed the torch.

Biden’s humility in this act is so unique that we risk overlooking it and failing to appreciate how singular and extraordinary it is.