July 11, 2024

Dear President Biden,

You have been the most consequential and effective American president since FDR, and I believe that you will eventually be ranked among the three or four greatest US Presidents ever.

However, I also believe that your continuing to seek re-election this fall not only threatens your legacy but also virtually guarantees a Trump victory.  Given the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Presidential immunity, an unfettered Trump will put the USA on a downward path into fascism. Should we also lose the House and Senate, Project 2025 will be put in place, probably ending the American experiment for all time.

Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg provides a cautionary tale. If she had stepped aside gracefully and allowed the Obama/Biden Administration to choose her replacement, her reputation and legacy would be unblemished, and she would be ranked among the most consequential Justices in our history.  However, she stubbornly hung on and, when she died, was replaced by a right-wing Justice, Amy Coney Barrett.  Despite RBG’s accomplishments, she will be remembered as “the Justice whose refusal to accept reality gave us an activist hard-right Supreme Court”

Age is not just a number, and I know whereof I speak. I recently turned 83, and, although I have managed to ‘bike my age’ on my birthday for the past 14 years, this year’s 83-mile ride took much longer and also required about two days of recovery time.   Next year will be even more difficult, but I can take my time.  As President, however, you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, 24/7.  Although you’ve surrounded yourself with extremely competent people and clearly have the support of a loving family, that is not sufficient reason for many Americans (including me) to pull the lever for you in November.  We want and need strong, vigorous, effective leadership, the kind you have provided for years.  

If you choose to step aside, you won’t be ‘quitting.’  Instead, you will be putting the United States of America ahead of your own strong desires to stay in office and  ‘finish the job.’  

I, my wife, and dozens of  our friends hope you will recognize the reality of aging and step aside gracefully so that Vice President Harris (or some other Democrat) can ‘finish the job’ that you have provided a blueprint for. 

With great admiration, gratitude, and respect,

John Merrow

Edgartown, Massachusetts 

(SENT ELECTRONICALLY AND BY U.S. MAIL TO THE WHITE HOUSE JULY 11TH)