President Joe Biden looked back at his time in the Oval Office as a period of “hope, progress, and possibility,” he said in a message to Americans posted on social media less than 48 hours before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Trump’s transition team via email for comment on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Biden’s relationship with the American people has been complicated. His 2024 presidential run, which he ended early last summer, was plagued by low approval ratings and concerns over his mental and physical fitness to serve another four years. During his term, the world saw two major ongoing conflicts—the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war—and at home, there was a massive influx of illegal immigration, and inflation soared after the COVID-19 pandemic before coming back down to around the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
On the flip side, Biden was able to push through landmark legislation during his term that helped millions of Americans, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
What To Know
Biden wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday afternoon, “When I look back on the past four years, I don’t just see the challenges we faced. I see hope, progress, and possibility.”
“A picture is worth a thousand words, but these photos tell the story of an America that’s always moving forward—we must keep it going,” the president said, alongside a video of himself looking through some of the most iconic photos from his presidency.
Biden looked at photos from the confirmation of his U.S. Supreme Court nominee Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black female judge on the bench, in April 2022; his surprise trip to Ukraine in February 2023; the moment he became the first U.S. president to walk a picket line with union workers in September 2023 during the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike; and the time families of detainees abroad visited the White House in August 2024 to celebrate a multi-country prisoner swap with Russia.
When I look back on the past four years, I don’t just see the challenges we faced.
I see hope, progress, and possibility.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but these photos tell the story of an America that’s always moving forward – we must keep it going. pic.twitter.com/AmXq5FFGpj— President Biden (@POTUS) January 18, 2025
The last photo shown was of Biden taking the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol during Inauguration Day 2021, just two weeks after Trump supporters stormed the grounds in a failed attempt to keep the then-president in office following Trump’s repeated claims that the 2020 election was stolen via widespread voter fraud. There is no evidence to support such claims.
“A lot of emotions that day. Standing with my son Hunter and my daughter Ashley and [first lady] Jill. And the most searing one was my son Beau wasn’t there. He was someone I relied upon. He was someone who really someday should’ve been taking that office, not me,” Biden said. “I had my hand on a family Bible that’s been around since the late 1800s and all I could think about was, I just hope he was looking, looking down.”
Biden’s eldest son Beau, an Iraq War veteran and 44th attorney general of Delaware, died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
The president ended the video with a message of hope.
“We’re the first nation in the world built on an idea. The idea is we hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men and women are created equal. That’s what we believe…We’re a nation of possibilities. That’s who we are. That’s what we never gave up on,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden looks on after he delivered his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 15. Biden looked back at his time in the Oval Office as a period of “hope, progress, and possibility,” he said in a message to Americans posted on social media less than 48 hours before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Mandel Ngan/pool/AFP via Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election against Trump, wrote on X on Thursday, “President Biden inherited a country rocked by a pandemic and an economic crisis and helped us recover from both, among many other achievements. Much will be written about his legacy, but for now, let’s start with: Thank you, Joe.”
Former President Barack Obama, who Biden served under as vice president from 2009 to 2017, wrote on X on Wednesday, “Four years ago, in the middle of a pandemic, we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right. That’s what @JoeBiden did.
“At a time when our economy was reeling, he drove what would become the world’s strongest recovery – with 17 million new jobs, historic wage gains, and lower health care costs. He passed landmark legislation to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and address the threat of climate change. I’m grateful to Joe for his leadership, his friendship, and his lifetime of service to this country we love.”
The Democratic National Committee wrote on X on Wednesday, “Thank you, President Biden. For everything.”
What Happens Next
Trump will take office on Monday during his swearing-in ceremony at noon in the U.S. Capital building in Washington, D.C.
