Biden’s selfless decision to drop out sets stage for an entirely different election

The president will be remembered for steering the US to recovery and giving his party a chance to beat Trump again

Legend has it that when King George III heard that George Washington, the first US president, had decided to retire after his second term, he remarked: If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."

Joe Biden, 81, holed up at a Delaware beach house with a bad cough after a Covid-19 diagnosis, ended his presidential re-election campaign on Sunday. It was a selfless decision that put the country's interests before his own - an act of grace that many see as vividly contrasting with the narcissism of his opponent Donald Trump.