Alex Brandon/AP Photo
President Joe Biden speaks about the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the East Room of the White House, February 24, 2022, in Washington.
Joe Biden has never been more impressive. I say that with mixed emotion, because I would rather be celebrating his prowess in getting Build Back Better through Congress. But you play the hand you are dealt, and Biden is playing this one exceptionally well.
In a sense, it is small comfort that Biden turns out to be a superb foreign-policy leader, because the Ukraine War is the most dire threat to world peace since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and it’s far from clear how it will end. If it does end well, that result will be much to Biden’s credit.
He has been masterful at rallying reluctant Europeans to support Ukraine, at using release of raw intelligence reports to smoke out Putin’s intent and throwing Putin off balance, and at maximizing the use of economic weapons to punish Russia’s economy and weaken Putin’s domestic support.
In a sense, all this is what the foreign-policy establishment does best. Containing Russia is in their DNA. Yet this foreign-policy success—if it does end well—was not the work of Biden’s senior staff on autopilot. It is a credit to Biden’s own leadership.
The wild card in all this is of course Putin. Until last week, as he sent one false signal after another, observers assumed he was crazy like a fox. Now, it’s increasingly clear that he is just plain crazy. A rational leader would be cutting his losses and looking for a face-saver. Even if the West offers that, Putin may keep escalating unless his own generals desert him.
Putin’s war also helps Biden in that it deepens the foreign-policy schism in the Republican Party, which is already badly split in its responses to the January 6 coup. And it further isolates our domestic Putin, Donald Trump.
But it’s far too soon to say that Biden’s astute leadership in this war could revive his presidency. A Washington Post/ABC poll finds his approval rating has continued to fall, to just 37 percent, and that a majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s leadership in every realm. In fairness, much of this is public frustration with inflation and COVID; and that poll was taken February 20–24, before the most recent events. With his war leadership, Biden’s approval will probably rebound.
But for now, there is a wide gap between how knowledgeable experts view Biden’s leadership and his standing among ordinary people. Part of this is his delivery—he has behaved like a superb leader, but he seldom talks like one.
At Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Biden will have more genuine bipartisan support than he has ever enjoyed. Trump liked to dismiss Biden as Sleepy Joe. Let’s hope our president gets some coaching, and that we all get Forceful Joe. There is so much riding on it.
