President Biden will address and deliver a commencement address to the graduating class of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday, at a moment of military unrest abroad, campus protests at home and a looming White House rematch with former President Donald J. Trump .
Mr. Biden is expected to congratulate the Army’s newest officers, describe the global challenges facing the military and remind cadets of the oath they took — not to the president but to the Constitution, that is a person familiar with the speech who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it.
Aides said Mr. Biden hoped to use the moment to draw a sharp contrast with Mr. Trump, who gave the commencement address at West Point in 2020 and drew criticism even from some within the academy for what he described as Mr. Trump. Trump’s desire for personal loyalty from those around him.
Saturday morning’s speech marks the third time Mr. Biden has been West Point’s commencement speaker, having previously appeared as vice president twice. During his first three years as president, he spoke at Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force graduation ceremonies.
The president’s return to the army’s elite educational institution will provide him with an academic background away from student protests over his handling of the war in Israel. Polls show young people have deep concerns about the president, raising questions about his re-election chances in the fall.
At West Point, an hour north of New York City, he will address about 1,000 sharply dressed cadets at Michie Stadium, each in his signature gray uniform and white gloves.
Some presidents have used the lectern at West Point to introduce new military doctrines or announce major initiatives. In 2002, President George W. Bush used his inaugural address there to argue for a U.S. war on Iraq after the Sept. 11 attacks nine months earlier, telling cadets, “We must take the fight to the enemy.” Disrupt his plans and face the worst threats before they emerge.”
Aides said Mr. Biden had no major foreign policy announcements planned on Saturday. But his message to graduates will likely reflect the central theme of his re-election campaign, albeit without mentioning Mr. Trump by name or making a direct election-year appeal to newly minted officers and their families.
Mr Biden has argued that democracy is at stake in the upcoming presidential election and that the basic institutions of government – including the military – are at risk if Mr Trump is allowed to return to the Oval Office.
Mr. Trump gave his speech at West Point just months after Mark T. Esper, then defense secretary, and Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, walked with him through Lafayette Park near the White House amid a police and military crackdown on a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd.
In an open letter to West Point graduates, former members of the academy urged them to remember their responsibilities.
“We promise service to no monarch; no government; no political party; not a tyrant,” the former West Point cadets wrote to their successors. “Their oath is to a set of principles and an ideal expressed in the Constitution and its amendments.”
Mr. Biden’s speech comes as he grapples with the fallout from two bitter wars abroad, in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. He has pledged that he will not station American troops on the ground in either conflict. But both have nonetheless drawn the United States deep into the fight, providing weapons, diplomatic support and humanitarian aid.
And there are other dangers looming: the risk of a Chinese attempt to conquer Taiwan; attacks from Iran, such as the rocket fire against Israel that the United States is helping to deter; and instability in parts of Africa and Central and South America.
Mr. Biden also hopes to avoid the pitfalls that have occasionally marred the president’s performances at military inaugurations.
During his 2020 address at West Point, Mr. Trump was seen awkwardly drinking from a glass with both hands and later walking very slowly down a ramp. Videos of both moments went viral, sparking questions about his health and vitality from some of his critics.
Last year, Mr. Biden tripped and fell while shaking hands with Air Force Academy graduates, an incident that aides later attributed to a sandbag on stage. The then 80-year-old president was quickly helped by several people and, according to his advisers, was “fine.”
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2024-05-25 09:04:46
www.nytimes.com
