 Writing to his fellow Americans, it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term. The announcement, a political earthquake, one that surprised even his own campaign and White House staff. It took Biden more than three weeks to get to this point. In the days after the debate, he was defiant.