President Joe Biden, who has less than a week left in office, says serving the United States as president was “the privilege of my life” in his last letter to the American people.
Biden wrote several points in his letter, recapping his presidency just days before his predecessor and successor, President-elect Donald Trump, is set to return to office.
“Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,” Biden said. “But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.”
Biden shared that he decided to run for president because he thought the “soul of America was at stake,” a point he has often made throughout the last four years.
“The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case,” he wrote.
“America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.”
Biden’s career in the federal government began in 1973 when he was elected to the United States Senate. He served in that role for almost 40 years, before being tapped by former President Barack Obama to serve as his vice president.
Now, as his time in government most likely comes to an end, Biden shared in his letter that it was an honor to have achieved what he did throughout his career of service.
“It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States. I have given my heart and my soul to our nation,” Biden wrote. “And I have been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people.”
Biden closed with a task for Americans, saying that “history” and “power” is in the people’s hands.
“The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together,” Biden closed.
Trump is set to return to office on Monday, Jan. 20, when he will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.