Republicans’ callous calls for Democratic President Joe Biden to resign less than six months from the end of his four-year term are getting some quick and blunt reaction from Democrats. Politico reported that the president’s aides have dismissed the idea as offensive and off-base.

The strongest response came from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who said, “I’ll use a polite term: utterly graceless and shameful baloney. When an American leader like Joe Biden makes a courageous and selfless decision for the sake of the nation, some of these Republicans just race to the bottom.”

Politico said the suggestion that Biden should resign came from U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate. Unfortunately, the digital newspaper said Vance’s call for Biden’s resignation was echoed by Louisiana’s U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton.

The Associated Press in a news report on Biden’s legacy said, “Biden never figured out how to inspire the world’s most powerful country to believe in itself, let alone in him.”

Like all presidents, Biden had some serious problems. They included a disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, millions of illegal crossings at the southern border and increased inflation. However, the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

Politico reported that Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and presidential historian, said Biden arrived as a reprieve from a nation exhausted by Trump and the pandemic.

Brinkley said, “He was a perfect person for that moment.” He said Biden proved in an era of polarization that bipartisan lawmaking was still possible.

David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama who also worked closely with Biden, said history would treat Biden kinder than voters had, not just because of his legislative achievements but because in 2020 he defeated Trump.

“His legacy is significant beyond all his many accomplishments,” Axelrod said. “He will always be the man who stepped up and defeated a president who placed himself above our democracy.”

The AP said Biden in March of 2021 launched $1.9 trillion in pandemic aid, creating a series of new programs that temporarily halved child poverty, halted evictions and contributed to the addition of 15.7 million jobs.

Biden followed up with a series of executive actions to unsnarl global supply chains and a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that not only replaced aging infrastructure but improved internet access and prepared communities to withstand the damages from climate change.

Louisiana’s senior U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, played a major role in helping get that bipartisan infrastructure bill passed. And Louisiana has benefited from billions of dollars in federal appropriations from that legislation.

In 2022, Biden and his fellow Democrats passed two measures that reinvigorated the future of U.S. manufacturing.

The CHIPS and Science Act provided $52 billion to build factories and create institutions to make computer chips domestically. The AP said that will ensure that the U.S. will have access to the most advanced semiconductors needed to power economic growth and maintain national security.

The Inflation Reduction Act provided incentives to shift away from fossil fuels and enabled Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

Biden helped strengthen NATO, tried to compete more aggressively with China and supported aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. All three of those successes will be in jeopardy if Trump and Vance are elected Nov. 5.

Froma Harrop, who is on X, formerly Twitter, in a July 2 column said, “Life is not perfect in Joe Biden’s America, but when was it ever perfect? Just looking at the numbers, though, things are pretty great.”

Harrop said stock prices are at record highs, unemployment at its lowest level in 50 years, violent crime has dropped to a near 50-year low and the net worth of American households stands at record highs.

The AP said Biden’s record includes legislation that will rebuild the country in ways that will likely be seen over the next dozen years, even if voters did not immediately appreciate it. It said he has a list of accomplishments that most presidents would not only envy but use as a sturdy foundation for re-election.

Biden has made the right choice and is entitled to wrap up that legacy over the next six months.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.