Joe Biden should have borrowed words from famed Gen. Douglas MacArthur as he left public office.

MacArthur, American hero of World War I, World War II and Korea (during which President Harry Truman fired him) served the country in uniform for 52 years.

At his April 19, 1951, farewell address to a joint session of Congress, MacArthur, quoting an old U.S. Army ballad, concluded, “Old soldiers never die—they just fade away.

“And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away—an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”

Biden, who served in politics as long as MacArthur served in the military, could have used some of that precious stuff, particularly as he has been known to borrow or pilfer a speech or two given by other politicians.

But perhaps never having served in the military Biden did not have those kinds of stirring words in him even after serving in the U.S. Senate or three decades, a place where nobody can stop talking.

He could have talked about his lifetime career in government and how he did his best “to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty” before announcing that he was now just going to fade away.

But he did not have it in him.

Instead of giving a memorable goodbye speech, or a speech to a joint session of Congress, he stumbled out of the back door of the White House, so to speak, without anything close to a MacArthur-like farewell.

He could also have given the public a glimpse of how he felt about being rudely rejected as a candidate for re-election by leaders of his own Democrat Party when he gave his first major paid speech last week since leaving office.

Without any of the past presidential pomp and pageantry, Biden spoke before a gathering of some 200 people attending a Chicago conference of 200 disability advocates.

Instead of mentioning his decision not to seek reelection, or anything about former staffers and once friendly reporters turning on him over his cognitive disability as president, he used the occasion to attack President Donald Trump over Social Security.

At times whispering or shouting, he accused Trump of gutting Social Security and creating fear among recipients despite repeated vows by Trump that payments to legitimate recipients will remain untouched.

Biden called Social Security “a sacred promise.”

He should know because he is on it, and then some. That is because he is  a triple dipper.

As Biden, then former vice president, prepared to run for president in 2020, he released his and his wife Jill’s tax returns from 2016 to 2018.  In 2018 the couple reported receiving $49,545 from Social Security.

It is not known how much Biden gets from Social Security today. Whatever it is, it will be on top his two separate federal pension programs that provide him with $413,000 in yearly retirement benefits, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

One pension is for his years in the Senate and the other is for his years as vice president, presiding officer of the Senate, and president.

Rather than attacking Trump, Biden should be thankful that Trump is promising to eliminate federal taxes on Social Security payments.

The fact of the matter is that Joe Biden should be the last person to be attacking Trump on Social Security. He opened the borders to millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom signed up for Social Security with untold numbers getting payments through fraudulent claims.

In Biden’s last year as president in 2024 more than two million illegal immigrants were given Social Security numbers making them eligible for Social Security payments, according to FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform).

If fading Joe Biden is not careful, Trump will kick him off Social Security too.

That’s a joke. (Maybe it’s not.)

But you get the drift.

Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com.

Former president Joe Biden blasted President Trump for an alleged attack on Social Security. He should thank him, instead, as Trump tries to make benefits tax-free. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images/TNS, File)