Biden's State of the Union address offered a plan — but will it be enough with democracy on the line?

Joe Biden walked into the State of the Union speech with the voices of presidents past in his ears.

Some of them are hard acts to follow.

Think Abraham Lincoln, who appealed to the best of America at a time when the country was tearing itself apart.

"We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope on earth," he said.

Others weren't as glorious but were memorable nonetheless. Take Gerald Ford who, in 1975, said simply: "The State of the Union is not good."

Where would Biden land? Would he pass the Lincoln test?

American resolve

The President spoke to a nation tired and dispirited. His Vice President, Kamala Harris, has called it a "malaise".

Donald Trump had called it "American carnage" — a nation at war with itself, angry, increasingly poor, dying younger, awash in guns and opioids, a nation with no faith.

The historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, summed it up recently saying Americans need to learn to feel good about themselves again.

It is a long way from Barack Obama’s now patently vacuous talk of "hope". Obama did not leave behind a hopeful nation but a divided one.

Biden walked into his first State of the Union speech knowing that Americans don’t see him as the answer. Polling shows more people think he is doing a bad job than good.

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Americans don’t feel good about their country; they don’t believe Biden when he says "America is back". 

And the rest of the world is waiting for the return of America, too.

When last seen, American troops were fleeing Afghanistan as the Taliban returned triumphant.

Now ordinary Ukrainians are arming themselves with anything at hand to hurl at a nuclear-armed invading Russia.

What did Biden offer them? Certainly an American resolve.

He called out Vladimir Putin. He said the Russian President has underestimated America and its allies.

“He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond," he said. 

“And, he thought he could divide us here at home.

"We were ready.”

Is it enough?

But Biden, with the most powerful army the world has ever seen, won’t spill American blood to save Ukraine.

Once again he reiterated that he will not put US troops into Ukraine. Putin knows that and has exploited it.

Instead, he said, the West will ratchet up sanctions and isolate Russia like never before.

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Even at home that is not enough for some. Ukrainian-American Republican Congresswoman, Victoria Spartz, said Putin is slaughtering Ukrainians; she called it a genocide.

And Biden, she has said, is failing.

“We have a president that talks about, and talks about and doesn’t do things,” she said. “What is he going to do? Wait until a million have died, then he is going to do more?"

Biden faces a world where there are no moral absolutes, only moral choices — and at home and abroad he faces enemies.

At home, it is hardline Republicans still led by Trump who want to seize back the White House. Abroad It is Putin today, it could be Xi Jinping tomorrow.

China’s leader has sealed a new pact with Russia and has made his own threats of war against Taiwan.

Are we prepared?

An American divide

Biden has appealed to unite among allies and political foes in the US.

There is, he said, more that unites than divides. We are all Americans, he said.

Yet America does not speak equally to all. America does not feel fair to all.

Inequality has entrenched bitter divisions. Poor Americans are angry Americans. Inequality is a cancer that is eating American democracy.

Destiny is too often a zip code: where you live determines how you live. Even how long you live. Life expectancy in states of the south and the rust belt like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan has gone down.

People without a college degree in America die younger. This was Trump's heartland. The people Hillary Clinton derided as "deplorables".

Biden knows how deep the enmity runs. He has appealed to a Reaganesque vision of a "field of dreams". He promised to restore hope to the rust belt.

But there are storm clouds looming. Inflation has hit 40-year highs. Interest rates are rising.

And that will hit the poor hardest. They are already paying more for fridges and computers and cars. The poor carry the highest levels of debt; there will be less money to spend. It will put the squeeze on housing, education and health care.

The battle ahead

Biden told Americans he has a plan. He wants Americans to make more things. It will free up supply chains and make goods cheaper.

He wants to bring down the cost of pharmaceuticals. He wants companies to pay more tax.

He didn't say the words "make America great again" or "put America first" but it is what he means. It is capitalism with a kinder face. Trump without the divisiveness.

But will it work? He will soon face midterm elections. Depending on the outcome, he will likely face more obstruction from Congress.

And then there are the culture wars: guns, immigration, abortion.

These are the identity issues. People pick sides and it determines not just their politics but who they are.

Anyone in doubt about the fight ahead need only have looked at the stern, steely face of conservative Supreme Court Justice — and Trump nominee — Amy Cooney Barrett when Biden mentioned support for Roe v Wade: the landmark Supreme Court ruling that entrenched a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

Unlike Abraham Lincoln, Biden doesn't lead a nation at war. But he does face a fight to save the idea of America. The stakes are high for him and us.

With Putin's tanks rolling across Ukraine and Xi's warships ramping up military intimidation of Taiwan, democracy itself is on the line.

Fate has chosen this man at this moment. A man who wanted to be President but had almost lost hope he would ever get there.

He needs more than fine words. When he says America is back, Biden needs to show authoritarians that he means it.

Biden never reached the heights of Lincoln’s rhetoric. Who could?

His best line in fact was borrowed from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “Light will win over darkness.”

The leader of the free world right now appears to be a former comedian turned president of a country under siege who knows that words are not enough.

Stan Grant is the ABC's international affairs analyst and presents China Tonight on Monday at 9:35pm on ABC TV, and Tuesday at 8pm on the ABC News Channel.