When German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded Joe Biden the Grand Cross special class of the German Order of Merit in Bellevue Palace here last week, it was a moment of vindication for the beleaguered American president. The only other American so honored was George H.W. Bush, who supported German unification at the end of the Cold War against objections from Russia, Britain and France.
Mr. Biden believes that the U.S.-German partnership is the foundation of the trans-Atlantic alliance. As the West faces challenges from a newly energized and aggressive group of authoritarian and totalitarian revisionist powers, Mr. Biden thinks the U.S.-German partnership will stand at the heart of the alliance of democracies united in defense of the current world order.