I have worked in the arena. As a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and a veteran of campaigns at every level, I have had the chance to see how government really works — behind the speeches and the soundbites.

I have seen former President Joe Biden — not resembling the caricature in these new political tell-alls that people keep publishing, but as a man committed to serving others, listening when it’s hardest and leading when others duck responsibility.

That’s why it is disheartening to see the growing shelf of books peddling the idea of a president in decline.