WASHINGTON — Transcription of President Joe Biden’s Address to the Nation on July 24, 2024:
My fellow Americans, I speak to you tonight from the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this hallowed space, I am surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington, who showed us that presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject evil. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.
I have respect for this office, but I love my country even more.
It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president, but in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I believe it is more important than any title.
I find strength and joy in working for the American people, but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. It is about you, your families, your future. It is about us, the people, and we must never forget that. And I never have.
I have made it clear that I believe America is at a turning point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our country and the world for decades to come.
America will have to choose between forward and backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We must decide whether we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice, and democracy. At this moment, we cannot see those with whom we disagree as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we? Does character in public life still matter?
I think you know the answer to these questions, because I know you, the American people, and I know that we are a great nation, because we are a good people.
When you elected me to this office, I promised you always to be honest, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is greater than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause cherish it so much that a cause of American democracy itself must unite to protect it.
You know, over the last few weeks, it’s become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this crucial undertaking. I believe that my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merit a second term, but nothing, nothing can stand in the way of us saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.
So I have decided that the best way to move forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation. I know there is a time and a place for years of experience in public life, but there is also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.
Over the next six months, I will focus on my work as president. That means continuing to lower costs for hardworking families and growing our economy. I will continue to defend our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I will continue to call out hate and extremism, making it clear that there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence, period. I will continue to speak out to protect our children from gun violence, our planet from the climate crisis, the existential threat.
And I’m going to continue to fight for my cancer moonshot, so that we can end cancer as we know it because we can. And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy, Supreme Court reform. You know, I’m going to continue to work to make sure that America remains strong and safe and the leader of the free world.
I am the first president in this century to announce to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world. We will continue to rally a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing even more damage. We will keep NATO stronger, and I will make it more powerful and more united than ever in our history. I will continue to do the same for allies in the Pacific.
You know, when I came into office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably outpace the United States. That is no longer the case. And I will continue to work to end the war in Gaza, bring all the hostages home, and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war.
We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans who are wrongfully detained around the world. You know, we’ve come so far since I was inaugurated. That day, I told you, standing in that winter — we were standing in a winter of danger and a winter of opportunity, danger and opportunity. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic of the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst assault on our democracy since the Civil War, but we came together as Americans and we came through. We came out stronger, more prosperous, more secure.
Today we have the strongest economy in the world, with nearly 16 million new jobs — a record. Wages are rising, inflation continues to fall, the racial gap is at its lowest in 20 years. We are literally rebuilding our entire country, urban, suburban, rural, tribal communities. Manufacturing has returned to America.
We are once again the world leader in chips, science and innovation. We have finally defeated Big Pharma after all these years to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and I will continue to fight to make sure we lower the cost for everyone, not just seniors.
Today, more people in America have health care than ever before. And I signed one of the most important laws to help the millions of veterans and their families who were exposed to toxic substances. You know, the most important climate bill ever, ever in the history of the world, the first major gun safety bill in 30 years. And today, violent crime is at a 50-year low.
We also secure our border. Border crossings are lower today than they were when the previous administration left office. And I kept my promise to appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. I also kept my promise to have an administration that looks like America and to be a president for all Americans.
That’s what I did. I ran for president four years ago because I believed, and I still believe, that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake, and it still is. America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.
It is the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness. We have never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we have never walked away from it, and I do not believe that the American people will walk away from it now.
In a few months, the American people will choose the course of America’s future. I have made my choice. I have made my views known. I want to thank our great Vice President Kamala Harris. She is experienced, she is tough, she is capable. She has been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is yours, the American people.
When you make that choice, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin. It hangs on my wall here in the Oval Office, next to the busts of Dr. King and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez. When Ben Franklin was asked, coming out of the convention, whether the Founding Fathers had given America a monarchy or a republic, Franklin’s answer was, “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic, if you can keep it. Whether we keep our republic is now in your hands.
My fellow Americans, it has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for more than 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a child with a stutter from humble beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, ever sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States, but here I am. That is what makes America special.
We are a nation of promise and possibility, of dreamers and doers, of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things. I have given my heart and soul to our nation, as have so many others. I have been blessed a million times over by the love and support of the American people. I hope you have any idea how grateful I am to all of you.
The great thing about America is that it’s not kings and dictators who rule here, it’s the people. History is in your hands. Power is in your hands. The idea of America is in your hands. We just have to keep the faith, keep the trust and remember who we are. We are the United States of America and there is simply nothing, nothing that is beyond our power if we do it together.
So let us act together, preserve our democracy. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you.
