WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden framed his decision to drop out of the 2024 race as a bid to unify the nation under a new generation of leaders, in his first public address since he ended his reelection campaign against Republican Donald Trump.

“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation,” Biden, 81, said Wednesday in an Oval Office address.

Biden acknowledged the difficulty of his decision, saying he revered the office. But ultimately, the president said he believed he needed to unite his party and put aside “personal ambition.”

Addressing Americans casting ballots in the fall, Biden said, “the great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands.”

It was a tacit admission of how a calamitous debate performance had devastated confidence in the president’s ability to serve four more years in the job, effectively ending a five-decades-long political career.

“There is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life,” Biden said. “There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes — younger voices.”

The stunning decision — along with Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is poised to clinch the nomination — capped a frenzied month that saw the race reshaped by the debate, its fallout, the attempted assassination of Trump and brewing doubts among Democrats over whether they needed a new candidate.

Biden insisted he still hoped to accomplish significant goals during his remaining six months in office. Biden said he would call for Supreme Court reform, continue pushing for cancer research funding, and seek to combat climate change and gun violence.

“Over the next six months, I will be focused on doing my job as president,” Biden said.

He also praised Harris as “an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country.”

“She experienced. She’s tough. She’s capable,” Biden said.

Biden had not previously been able to speak directly to his decision due to a COVID infection that forced him off the campaign trail; instead the president initially announced his withdrawal in a letter posted to his social media channels. It marked an ignominious end to Biden’s fourth presidential campaign, and effectively conceded that his years-long insistence that he was best positioned to keep Trump from the White House no longer remained true.

A wave of well-wishes and acclaim from Democrats for the president flooded in after Biden’s announcement, including elected officials who’d only days earlier been calling for him to bow out.

Biden now faces the remaining half-year of his presidency, no longer running an election he seemed to have little chance of winning but forced into lame-duck status.

“I will continue to lower costs for hard-working families and grow our economy. I will keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose,” he said.

The president cast his choice as evidence of the central argument of his campaign, which painted Democrats as defenders of vital institutions and democratic principles at risk during a second Trump term.

“The defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Wednesday that Biden’s decision had “nothing to do with his health” and dismissed questions of whether he’d consider resigning before the end of his term as “ridiculous.” She also batted aside questions of whether Harris’ staff would be given more access or an expanded role in the administration.

“He’s going to run through the finish line,” Jean-Pierre said. “We don’t see ourselves as a lame duck president at all.”

Biden will leave office with a record that includes landmark legislative achievements — including the COVID-era American Rescue Plan, a clean-energy law and bipartisan measures funding infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.

But he suffered under the weight of record-low approval ratings driven by rising worries about his age and acuity. That made Democrats fearful they were headed for a sweep in races for the presidency, House and Senate if Biden remained at the helm.

Inflation and border security, in particular, were millstones for Biden and are sure to remain a headwind for Harris if she’s formally nominated.

Biden made the decision Sunday while huddled at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, as he recovered from COVID-19. He was joined by aides Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon, Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal. The group discussed whether Biden still had a path to victory.

He finalized his choice by midday Sunday, notifying only top aides and then stunning members of his own team and the broader public with the release of the letter.

On Wednesday, Biden said he gave his heart and soul to the nation, and hoped Americans knew how grateful he was for the opportunity to serve.

“Nowhere else on earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States,” Biden said. “Here I am.”

Following the debate, Biden opened the door to stepping aside in unlikely events — if the “Lord almighty” intervened or if he developed a health problem — though also declined to commit to a new physical or cognitive exam.

Biden tried to assuage concerns by scheduling a raft of interviews with mainstream news outlets — a relative rarity during his presidency — and campaign events that ultimately only stoked worries within his own party.

One of Biden’s last major acts was hosting leaders from NATO, an organization that he poured time and political capital into strengthening, and that faces a profoundly uncertain future in a potential second Trump presidency. At the summit’s closing press conference, Biden was asked if he’d step aside if he believed Harris would fare better against Trump.

“No,” he said. “Unless they came back and said, “There’s no way you can win.’”

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