Leadership, humility and compassion
President Biden’s speech last Monday commemorating the grim milestone of a halfmillion U.S. COVID-19 deaths — thanks in part to the clueless incompetence of the previous president — was one of the most sincere and powerful presidential addresses I’ve ever heard. Its power derived largely from its gentle, compassionate tone, the vulnerability and grief evident in the speaker’s voice, authentic personal feelings not in the least theatrical, almost intimate, and clearly rooted in his own experience of loss. Even Barack Obama at his most eloquent never struck me as so profoundly empathetic.
Biden’s brief oration, a beautifully written homage to the diverse individuals lost to the pandemic and their grieving families, embodied the ineffable qualities of true leadership, the spiritual humility and wisdom of an elder whose understanding of our national tragedy transcends politics. His 78 years of experience, his early political ambition and ego tempered by various mistakes and humiliations, have given him time to ripen into a role he now appears to have been destined for. Even his momentary stuttering in one passage served to accent the truth of what he was trying to say. You could feel him struggling to express what was ultimately inexpressible — the enormity of what has befallen this country and the daunting challenge that lies ahead in the effort to contain the contagion.
This speech, more of a mass eulogy, was the most vivid possible illustration of the pastoral role of the presidency that Biden’s predecessor lacked the character and aptitude to fulfill. Obama and Bill Clinton had a gift for it, and even Ronald Reagan the actor could pull it off at times, but in Biden’s case it feels as if his whole life has been preparation for such a moment of collective mourning, and his execution of its demands seemed effortless. There was not a false note in his whole delivery, and it inspired confidence that this president has at least the potential of guiding this sickened country to some kind of healthy recovery.
Speaking directly to the families and friends of all the deceased, each a unique individual felled by the virus and the chaotic response (or lack of response) that has accompanied it, Biden asked them to remember their lost ones and “to find purpose in the work ahead” as a way of coming back from such devastation. He told them that “to heal, we must remember” and that in time the terrible absences would be replaced by a comforting sense of their presence. He assured them that he knows, from his own experience, “You’re gonna be OK.”
The ceremonial formality and dignity of the occasion gave it the aura of a family funeral, but also included a calm reminder for each of us to take practical steps to do our part in the recovery of our collective wellbeing: “Socially distance, mask up, get your vaccination when your turn comes.” This combination of soulfulness and pragmatic counsel is what it will take to move the nation in a politically positive direction.
The ideological differences within the Democratic Party, the perennial tug-of-war between “progressives” and “moderates”— not to mention the various “identities” struggling for representation — must not be allowed to derail the president’s attempt to unite its diverse factions in an integrated movement toward correction of the myriad inequities dramatized and exacerbated by the catastrophe of the past four years. The country will not be transformed overnight, and there are persuasive arguments for both moderation and radical transformation. Biden knows this, and knows that his political opponents, the Trumplicans, will do anything to sabotage and destroy whatever positive change he attempts to shepherd into existence. In order to succeed in their project to establish a more humane and responsible government, the Democrats must synthesize their leftist and centrist convictions and resist the all-or-nothing impulse to defeat their rivals for domination of the party’s agenda.
As gracefully demonstrated in his memorial address, Joe Biden can be the instrument of such a synthesis.