Biden Warns the World Is at an ‘Inflection Point’ Amid Global Crises
In his final U.N. speech, President Biden framed his decision to drop his bid for re-election as a lesson that “some things are more important than staying in power.”
Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David E. Sanger
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent, is traveling with President Biden in New York. David E. Sanger has covered national security issues for The Times for four decades.
President Biden used his final speech to the United Nations on Tuesday to celebrate his defense of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and his work to restore the United States’ global alliances, but he also warned that the advances of his administration could easily fall apart if America returned to isolationism.
In an address of a little more than 20 minutes to the U.N. General Assembly, Mr. Biden combined personal touches with policy imperatives and an impassioned defense of democracy. He traced the arc of his own political career, from election to the Senate in 1972 at age 29, to his “difficult” decision two months ago to drop his bid for re-election — a decision he framed as a lesson for other heads of state.
“My fellow leaders,” Mr. Biden said, “let us never forget: Some things are more important than staying in power.”
Not surprisingly, Mr. Biden focused heavily on America’s and the West’s response to the Ukraine invasion, declaring that the United States and its allies, chiefly NATO, had “ensured the survival of Ukraine as a free nation.”
But he stopped short of assessing how he did in what he has described as the central challenge of his time: ensuring that democracy wins out over autocracy. And he acknowledged that Ukraine’s power to hold off Russia could be fleeting — a point that set the stage for Mr. Biden’s meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at the White House on Thursday.
“We cannot grow weary, we cannot look away,” the president declared, in what may be his last opportunity to rally global support behind a conflict that has played a central role in his presidency.
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