In the final hours of Biden’s failed campaign

Will Marshall, founder and chairman of the Progressive Policy Institute, said US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race was a “nervous decision” for him. “I think the pressure has only increased since the unfortunate debate at the end of last month,” he told Sky News Australia. “It was an agonising decision, obviously, for the president, but I think he made the right decision.”

On Sunday morning local time, aides to President Biden made phone calls to try to counter a wave of pressure to force the 81-year-old leader to resign because of growing concerns about his age and mental acuity.

A disastrous performance in last month’s debate against former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump has amplified fears that the president will be unable to repeat his 2020 election victory and prompted growing public calls within his party for a reset under a new candidate.

Those calls intensified further after Trump survived an assassination attempt last week, with President Biden subsequently forced to abandon the campaign after falling ill with COVID-19.

Isolated in his Delaware home, a seemingly wounded president initially vowed to keep fighting, but his will to keep fighting began to fade when the political reality of his situation first hit him.

Conversations with those calling for his removal have also continued, with reports suggesting that President Biden’s tone has begun to soften and his questions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances have changed.

CNN reported that a Democratic adviser said the president had gone from “Kamala can’t win” to “Do you think Kamala can win?”

On Saturday night, the New York Times reported that President Biden picked up the phone and called two of his closest aides, Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, and the three men worked “late into the night” to draft a letter that the president would later release to the American public.

Only President Biden’s family and close entourage were informed of his decision on Saturday evening.

Among them was Vice President Harris, whom the president formally endorsed as his replacement after the announcement was made public, with the two men exchanging several calls in the hours before his decision to step down.

Others briefed in advance included White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and his longtime aide and campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon.

Aside from this tight-knit group, it appears that no one else was given advance notice of President Biden’s decision.

At 1.45pm (3.45am Monday AEST) on Sunday, the president’s top campaign aides were invited to gather for a call, a minute later the announcement was posted on social media.

Multiple reports of the call revealed that the president’s aides were shocked and caught off guard by the reversal, with many expecting the president to continue his campaign once he fully recovered from COVID-19.

Reports also suggest that the Biden family was disappointed by the decision, as first lady Jill Biden and the president’s son Hunter had both strongly supported him to continue running in the upcoming election.

The president himself was said to be “furious” ahead of the call, but he realized that allowing the infighting among Democrats to continue would seriously hamper his party’s hopes of preventing a Trump victory in November.

While talk of a “dignified exit” always seemed unlikely given the president’s shocking debate performance, subsequent gaffes and signs of open rebellion within his own party, President Biden’s decision is being hailed by his supporters as a “brave” and “noble” sacrifice of his own political ambitions for the good of the nation.

Even longtime rivals like Republican Sen. Mitt Romney welcomed the move, with the Utah representative saying President Biden’s decision was “right and in the best interest of the country.”

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Despite the difficult end to his White House tenure, observers say history may be kinder to the president than his own party and voters were during his final months in office.

President Biden has had significant success in helping reshape the U.S. economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as passing $1 trillion in bipartisan legislation to help repair and rebuild the country’s aging infrastructure.

He also took a more aggressive stance toward China, with the CHIPS and Science Acts both helping to ensure Americans had greater control over supply chains for critical microchip technology and pumping billions into revitalizing American manufacturing.

The Inflation Reduction Act was another major achievement, helping to shift investment away from fossil fuels and strengthen Medicare.

However, many of these policies have failed to generate political traction, with analysts saying the long-term investment and restructuring efforts have failed to have a tangible, immediate impact on voters.

In addition, growing concerns about the number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S. southern border and criticism of the president’s support for Ukraine from radical Republicans have created a political headache, along with the soaring cost of living facing many American households.

With President Biden now out of the race, Democrats are hoping his successor, likely Vice President Harris, will be able to remind voters of the progress made over the past four years while being free from criticism of the Biden administration’s failures.

With a remarkably united Republican Party and a resurgent Trump, analysts say the race for the White House remains as tight as ever.