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“In America we often get the person that we need for the moment. We had Lincoln during the Civil War and FDR after the Depression. My brother is right for these challenges we face today. He knows how to heal. And Joe’s life is about healing and recovery – and that’s what we need as a country.”
This remark draws out a truth concerning the unwritten but essential role of the president of the United States: his person embodies the American nation and his word serves to maintain it or to restore it to its destiny.
As Robert Bellah demonstrated in his now classic article on the civil religion of the United States, the president literally expresses the sense of national identity. In line with this tradition, Joe Biden, through his victory and then inauguration addresses, immediately assumed his role as the national high priest. However, Biden has added his own personal touch – his Catholic spirituality – to this tradition, a surprising touch given the rather Protestant fab