While President Joe Biden hasn’t yet completed his first term as president, the position comes with plenty of opportunities for memorable public appearances. This includes both inspiring speeches and embarrassing gaffes. While Biden is relatively new to the position, he is not new to politics. He has held an elected position in the United States for decades. But what are his most memorable speeches? Which ones will he be known for a hundred years from now? Nobody can say, but we can list his most memorable speeches so far and hope that there are more to come. Here are 14 of President Joe Biden’s most memorable speeches.
#1 Inauguration Speech
Joe Biden’s inaugural address was 2,514 words long and took 21 minutes to complete. Interestingly enough, like most previous inaugural addresses, it started when President Trump had seven minutes left in his term and passed into the first few minutes of Biden’s term.
Every inaugural address is an opportunity for the incoming president to lay out their plan for their presidency and set the tone for their time in office. Anything they do or say after this moment will be compared to what they promised in their first presidential speech. Biden took office during a time of unprecedented political division and cultural upheaval. The New York Times called this speech a “direct rebuttal” to Trump’s inaugural address. Biden focused on the struggles that Americans were facing at the time and highlighted times of American strength in the past. He promised to “fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did”.
#2 January 6 Anniversary Speech
According to the Washington Post, this is the best speech of Biden’s presidency.
On the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s attack on the capitol on January 6, 2021, Biden addressed the nation on what was sure to be a tense day. While the focus was on the previous president’s actions and “web of lies”, Biden did not mention his predecessor by name. He highlighted the need for unity and constant effort to maintain a country we all want to live in. Notable lines in this speech include “With rights come responsibilities”, and “You cannot love your country only when you win”.
#3 Oval Office Address Regarding Support for Ukraine and Israel
In October of 2022, President Biden called for more financial aid for Israel and Ukraine and urged Americans to stand in support of both nations.
While the content of this speech has aged like milk while Israel’s genocide against Palestine continues into 2024, at the time it was regarded as one of his finest and most presidential speeches, and one of only two the president had delivered from his desk in the oval office.
Even Fox News praised the speech, calling it one of the best of his speeches ever. Bret Baier of Fox News said, “I think it may be remembered as one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency, […] He was firm, he was unequivocal, he was strong…”
#4 Speech on the U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan
This speech is memorable not so much for the content or its impact, but for what it represents: an end to the United States’ aggression and occupation in Afghanistan.
The day after U.S. troops left Afghanistan, Biden addressed the nation and called the evacuation an “extraordinary success.” He defended U.S. involvement in the nation and his decision to leave the country in the hands of the Taliban. The speech signaled the end of twenty years of military involvement in the country, the longest war in United States history. Whether the evacuation proves to be a blunder of historic proportions, or a step in the right direction, only time will tell, but this speech stands at a turning point in Afghanistan’s history.
#5 2022 White House Correspondents’ Dinner Speech
The 2022 White House Correspondents’ Dinner was significant because it was the first dinner held after the start of the 2019 pandemic, and marked the return of the president after Donald Trump refused to attend any of the dinners during his presidency because it was “so boring, and so negative”. This was the first dinner since 2016 that a president attended.
During his speech, Biden seized the opportunity to poke fun at himself and roast his predecessor. Memorable lines from this speech include: “We had a horrible plague followed by two years of Covid,” and “If you’re at home watching this and you’re wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here. Vaccinated and boosted. All of them.”
#6 October 23 Speech to Combat COVID
On October 23, 2020, Biden gave a speech detailing his plan to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. While a necessary speech, the reason this speech resonated with people was because it highlighted the struggles that certain demographics were suffering at higher rates than affluent and white groups.
In one refreshing part, Biden said “Imagine if you’re a member of a community that has been hit particularly hard, black, Latino, Asian Americans, or Native Americans. Imagine a public health and economic response that treats your needs as a priority, not as an afterthought.”
#7 May 2015 Speech to Yale Graduates
On May 17, 2015, Vice President Biden addressed the graduating class of Yale and advised them to be willing to look foolish as long as they’re doing what matters to them.
The focus of this speech was on the 1972 car crash that claimed the lives of Biden’s wife and infant daughter and injured his sons Beau and Hunter.
Among the most memorable parts of the speech is when the Vice President said, “It’s not all that difficult, folks, to be compassionate when you’ve been the beneficiary of compassion in your lowest moments […] because when you know how much it meant to you, you know how much it mattered, […] It’s not hard to be compassionate.”
#8 1994 Senate Floor Speech on Crime
Much of the strongest criticism of Biden’s presidency focuses on his legislative history while serving in the Senate, his stance on crime and association with racist groups, and his support of laws that negatively impacted minorities. Among the most notable and memorable of his stances can be seen in this speech to the Senate.
In this speech, Biden likened himself to President Nixon and called to “lock the S.O.B.s up”, referring to those who commit crime in the United States, highlighting his lack of empathy and understanding of crime in America. Biden continued to side with hardline Republicans on issues of crime and police.
#9 President-elect Victory Speech
In an optimistic speech, ignorant of the storm of political and legal nonsense his predecessor would continue to create, President-elect Biden called for cooperation and healing. It was refreshing to hear the president say he would “spare no effort […] to turn around this pandemic,” after the previous administration refused to take it seriously.
#10 2022 Speech in Warsaw Addressing Russian Aggression
On March 26, 2022, President Bien addressed the world from Warsaw, Poland a month after Russia invaded Ukraine. The speech focused on the fight between democracy and autocracy and NATO’s obligation to defend itself.
The most divisive and memorable line from this speech was when Biden said “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Several world leaders disapproved of the statement. It was revealed later that Biden had improvised the line, and it was not part of the original written speech. For everyone else, however, it was refreshing to hear a world leader call out the need for Putin to be removed.
#11 2012 Speech on Grief
In this speech, given to family and friends of military members who had died, Biden gave a candid account of his feelings while dealing with grief and loss. At the time he was mourning the loss of his 46-year-old son Beau.
There are many emotional and impactful lines in this speech. Among them is this quote: “For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide. I realized someone could go out — and I probably shouldn’t say this with the press here, but you’re more important — I realized how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide. Not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts. Because they’d been to the top of the mountain, and they just knew in their heart they’d never get there again, that it was never going to get — never going to be that way ever again.”
#12 Keynote Speech on the 56th Anniversary of the Bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church
Citizens around the country praised this speech as one of Biden’s most significant ever as he condemned racism, called for action, and said that silence in the face of hatred is complicity. While highlighting recent acts of violent white supremacy, Biden said that “violence does not live in the past.”
Biden also said, “There can be no realization of the American Dream without grappling with the original sin of slavery,” and “The domestic terrorism of white supremacy has been the antagonist of our highest ideals from before the founding of this country,”
#13 Remarks on School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas
On May 24, 2022, President Biden echoed the frustration and anger of millions of Americans when he called for reform to gun laws in the United States.
Biden announced “Let me be clear about something. If this Congress refuses to act, we need a new Congress.” He continued to say, “We will ban assault weapons in this country. We will ban multi-round magazines. We will hold gun makers liable. We will beat the gun industry.”
Time will tell whether he lives up to his promise while innocent people continue to die.
#14 January 6th Third Anniversary Speech
In January of 2024, Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign and began with what many political followers call his best speech ever. Biden attacked his predecessor, and likely presidential opponent in a fiery and direct speech meant to set the tone for the upcoming election season. If Biden can continue with the passion and directness of this speech for the year, he is sure to be the candidate to beat in November.
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