Biden avoids taking up the mantle of a wartime president

WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office last week, all the trappings of a wartime commander in chief were evident: Behind him, slightly parted gold-colored curtains, the American and presidential flags, and family pictures; under his outstretched palms, the Resolute Desk.

It was from the same spot, with the same tableau, that President George W. Bush spoke to Americans hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assault on the U.S.

"I’ve directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice," Bush said that night. "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

A week later, Congress gave Bush broad authority to wage what he would call the "Global War on Terror." Within a month, the U.S. would begin a two-decade war in Afghanistan. The following year, Bush would ask for — and receive — authorization to invade Iraq, which had nothing to do with Sept. 11.

In the shadow of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel — in which Hamas killed and kidnapped Americans — Biden chose not to make himself a wartime president.

He didn't wave a bloody shirt. He didn't rally Americans around the flag. He didn't call for retribution.

Instead, he drew a distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people, spoke of the risks of acting in anger, and told Americans "who are hurting" from antisemitism and Islamophobia: "I see you." He also suggested that, while the U.S. supports its longtime ally, this is Israel's war.

"When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well, and while we sought and got justice, we made mistakes," Biden said. "So I caution the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage."

That may say as much about Biden's deep foreign policy experience — having served in office during parts or all of the Cold War, Vietnam, Afghanistan and two wars in Iraq — as it does about his political feel for the fleeting popularity of re-election-seeking wartime commanders in chief and the public's weariness with war.

Biden is trying "to navigate the world through a very difficult time and he’s doing it with great judgment and great care," Ron Klain, his former White House chief of staff, said. "You're seeing his expertise at work."

The outbreak of war in the Middle East has presented Biden with a series of balancing acts that carry substantive and political peril: keeping a lid on the Middle East, giving Israel space to pursue Hamas without endangering hostages, pushing a fractured Congress to fund Ukrainian and Israeli war efforts while providing humanitarian assistance for Palestinians, and avoiding actions and rhetoric that further divide his Democratic base.

Any step in the wrong direction could cost lives — including those of American hostages — and that has informed Biden's approach to lowering the temperature at a time when another president might harness or even stoke outrage.

“These are dramatically different incidents and you really do have to meet the moment, and that’s what he’s trying to do,” a senior administration official said. “It’s not 9/11. There are parallels, but it’s not the same. And we have a significant hostage situation, too, that sort of colors what we can say and how we can say it.”

Miscalculations on policy, posture or rhetoric could also cost Biden votes.

Modern wartime presidents have had mixed results in their re-election efforts. In 1968, the escalating war in Vietnam contributed heavily to Lyndon Johnson's surprise decision to stand down from seeking a second term. George H.W. Bush saw his approval ratings rise into the 90% range during the first U.S. war in the Gulf, but he lost his re-election bid.

More recently, though, George W. Bush's response to Sept. 11 helped his party win seats in the House in the 2002 midterm elections and paved the way for his re-election in 2004.

The biggest difference, of course, is that the Sept. 11 attacks happened on U.S. soil. Moreover, public sentiment toward the ensuing wars — and the president who launched them — changed. In recent years, polls have shown that most Americans think the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were not worth fighting.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a member of the House Progressive Caucus who is close to the White House, said Biden's calls for restraint in the Middle East reflect "where modern American public sentiment" stands with regard to global conflicts.

"I also think it’s who he is. He’s learned lessons of overreach, of American foreign policy post-9/11," Khanna said. "I think that colors a lot of Biden’s foreign policy instincts — whether it’s Afghanistan, whether it’s making sure that we’re not engaging U.S. troops in Ukraine or fighting Russia directly, and whether it’s counseling some sense of caution and restraint in what is happening today while recognizing that, clearly, Israel has a right to hold Hamas perpetrators accountable."

Biden advisers are playing down the importance of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East in next year's election, where the president appears to be on course for a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

“When it comes to elections, it’s about domestic policy,” former Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., who served as Biden's top aide in the Senate, said in an interview. “It’s about things that are directly affecting me as a voter, and foreign policy doesn’t seem to be a major issue in the campaign."

After criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based group designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., "very smart," Trump has course-corrected with conservative Israel hawks by promising to extend his proposed travel ban to include Gazans and pointing to his record of alliance with Israel during his term.

Most of the candidates vying to beat Trump for the Republican nomination and Biden in next year's general election have come squarely down on the side of Israel — and criticized Biden.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Biden has spent "so little time talking about the consequences of taking American lives" and hostages.

"If you take an American hostage, it should cost you your life," Scott said. "There has to be a high price if you want to reduce the likelihood of additional hostages. There's really only two ways to deal with...the terrorist: Give them what they want, and they will want more hostages; take away what they need and they will want fewer hostages."

Hamas has released four hostages, including two Americans, since the Oct. 7 attack. Biden has said he has "no higher priority" than securing the release of hostages, but he has spoken more about his support for Israel and his compassion for civilians on both sides of the Gaza border. At the heart of his remarks from the White House was a $106 billion request for Congress to bind another tranche of money for Ukraine to funding for both Israel's defense and humanitarian assistance. In doing so, he positioned Israel and Ukraine as democratic allies fighting extremist invaders.

Though he has kept arm's length from the wars — limiting the American presence in both theaters — Biden's legacy, America's global interests and the 2024 election will all be defined in part by his level of success.

"President Biden didn’t choose to be a president of wars and winning these wars," said Eliav Benjamin, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Washington. "But to watch his speech addressed to the nation, you understand how steadfast his support has been to both Israel and Ukraine."

Benjamin said he sees the U.S. and Israel as "brothers in arms" in the war in the Middle East.

"This is Israel’s 9/11," he said. "And the U.S. leadership and the people realize this is not just an Israel war. This is a world war against terrorism and Hamas. God forbid if we don’t win this war. Today, it is in Israel. But tomorrow, it could be in the United States or anywhere else around the world."

But after upsetting Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. by emphasizing his support for Israel, even as he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged restraint in Tel Aviv, Biden has sought to strike a more delicate balance in his domestic messaging. That was evident in the Oval Office address, in which he acknowledged the pain and fears of Jews and Muslims in the U.S.

"It’s a delicate time," Klain said. "He doesn’t need to inflame passions any more than they are."

There is "certainly a real concern" that Biden could do lasting political damage to himself by alienating core constituencies within his party, said Faiz Shakir, a Democratic strategist who served as Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign manager.

But Shakir said he believes Biden's desire to lower the temperature both abroad and at home is a strength that will ultimately serve him well in walking a series of tightropes.

"What has always helped Biden is, at the end of the day, the stability of just decency and sensible decision-making," Shakir said, noting that Biden's message to the American public has evolved in the weeks since the attacks. "I don't know how this whole thing plays out, but it wouldn't surprise me if you get into a general election in which Donald Trump is the other choice, and we see how this conflict played out and Trump has to make his counterargument as to what he would have done."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com