President Joe Biden had an uncharacteristically self-aware moment in 2022.
As we learn from Franklin Foer, an Atlantic staff writer whose new book is The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, the moment came not long after the president casually endorsed regime change in Russia. During a speech in Poland, Biden remarked that, “for God’s sake, [Putin] cannot remain in power.” The White House was swift to walk back the unscripted comment, much to Biden’s reported chagrin.
