Biden's Quest for Leadership: Navigating Partisan Rifts in a Global Arena

• In Event: Uncertain Transatlantic Relations: Domestic Challenges in Interconnected Spaces

Abstract

In an appeal to the American people and members of Congress in late October of 2023, Joe Biden claimed “we’re facing an inflection point in history.” The “decisions we make today are going to determine the future for decades to come.” During his tenure as president, he has attempted to heal the increasingly violent divide among partisans. He has attempted to shed the image Trump promoted that eroded US leadership in the rules based international order and weakened transatlantic alliances. And finally, he has attempted to establish an overarching narrative about the forces of democracy combatting the threat of authoritarianism, in all its forms. This paper raises the question to what extent Biden is attempting to call back to the foreign policy paradigm established in the Truman Doctrine to create unity within his country and establish an ideological rallying cry for democracies. By connecting the Israeli fight against Hamas in Gaza to the war in Ukraine he hearkens back to the rhetoric used by Harry Truman when attempting to convince Congress to support the Greek fight against communism in 1947. In both instances, a president with ambivalent popular support has asked Americans to take a leadership role in international affairs at a time when many want to continue to look inward and focus on “America First.” This paper systematically explores the parallels between the rhetorical tools used in the early days of the Cold War to show how Biden has repackaged a similar message to achieve a similar outcome. This contributes important insights on how presidents rely on established frames to overcome domestic contestation. Seeking to navigate partisan divisions during a contentious election season to create more unity at home while simultaneously reasserting US leadership abroad among essential transatlantic allies has emerges as a principle challenge of Biden’s foreign policy.

Author

• Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology