4 takeaways from President Biden’s Oval Office address

4 takeaways from President Biden’s Oval Office address toggle caption Evan Vucci/Pool/AFP via Getty Images For the latest on race for president, head to NPR's Election 2024 page. In Washington’s farewell address on Sept. 19, 1796, he also warned that “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” “The great thing about America is,” Biden said, “here, kings and dictators do not rule; the people do.” Biden and others see that foundational American principle as lost on someone like Trump, who, when he visited Mount Vernon, Washington’s estate in Virginia, in 2019 with French President Emmanuel Macron, said of the nation’s first president, per Politico: “If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it. toggle caption Evan Vucci/Pool/via AP The president cited the need for unity among Americans multiple times: “America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.” “In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans.” “The sacred cause of this country is larger than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause … a cause of American democracy itself, must unite to protect it.” “So I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. toggle caption Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Biden could have made the determination years ago, after saying he would be a “transitional” president during the 2020 election, that he would not run for reelection.