WEST POINT, N.Y.—President Joe Biden delivered a commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy’s graduation ceremony at West Point in New York, telling new army officers to uphold their oath to protect democracy and freedom.
The president delivered the address to nearly 1,000 cadets graduating from the 222-year-old academy who will join the ranks of the U.S. Army.
President Biden did not openly attack former President Donald Trump in his commencement speech but instead warned about challenges to democracy, as he typically does in election campaign speeches to criticize his predecessor. He urged graduates to keep fast to the values they learned at West Point and, most importantly, their oath.
“On your very first day at West Point, you raised your right hands and took an oath—not to a political party, not to a president, but to the Constitution of the United States of America—against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” President Biden said.
“Freedom is not free; requires constant vigilance. And from the very beginning, nothing is guaranteed about our democracy in America. Every generation has an obligation to defend it, to protect it,” he added.
This is his first time delivering the commencement speech as president. He previously delivered the commencement address at West Point in 2012 and 2016 as vice president.
Last year, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the keynote speech at the ceremony, becoming the first woman to give a commencement address in the military academy’s history.
After commending the graduates, President Biden cautioned them of a wide range of global challenges, from the war in the Middle East to Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific.
“You’re graduating into a world—as a student history, I can tell you—like none before. I’ve been a senator since I was 29 years old, never left government. And ladies and gentlemen, the world is not only changing rapidly, the pace of change is also accelerating,” President Biden said. “There’s never been a time in history when we’ve asked our military to do so many different things in so many different places around the world, all at the same time.”
President Biden stated that he is determined to keep U.S. soldiers out of the Ukraine conflict, but he would continue to support the war-torn country.
“I’m determined to keep it that way. But we are standing strong with Ukraine and we will stand with them,” he said.
In the Middle East, he praised the Army and Navy for quickly establishing a temporary pier on the Mediterranean and increasing life-saving aid to the Palestinians.
And for the Indo-Pacific, he hailed his administration’s efforts to strengthen alliances in the region, including strategic ties with Australia and the United Kingdom, as well as trilateral collaboration with Japan and the Republic of Korea.
“Never forget, America is strongest when we lead not only by the example of our power but by the power of our example,” he said.
The speech comes a month after President Biden signed into law a bill that provides security assistance worth about $95 billion to American partners, including Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
“It’s going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer. And it continues America’s leadership in the world,” President Biden said during a speech following the signing ceremony. “It gives vital support to America’s partners so they can defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and the lives and freedom of their citizens.”
Additionally, President Biden mentioned the decline in sexual assaults in the military.
“For the first time in nearly a decade, the rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment have gone down across the active-duty force,” he said during the ceremony.
On May 6, President Biden welcomed the Army Black Knights football team to the White House, where they received the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. During last year’s football season, the Army defeated both the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
