Washington: Four days after he withdrew from the 2024 US presidential election, Joe Biden delivered the most consequential speech he never wanted to give.

He explained his stunning decision to stand down, acknowledging that the “best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation”.

President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the White House Oval Office on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).Credit: AP

He outlined what was at stake if Donald Trump returned to power, noting that “the defence of democracy is more important than any title”.

And he urged his disillusioned country to get out and vote, declaring that the US was a land where “kings and dictators do not rule”.

“The people do”, he said in an 11-minute prime-time address from the Oval Office.

“History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands.”

It was a passionate and thoughtful speech emblematic of the politician who gave it. Here was a man who entered the US Congress as one of the country’s youngest-ever senators in 1972 and would spend the next half-century devoting his life to public service.

Here was a man who would leave the........

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