# Quote — Joe Biden, Promises to Keep

> There is never a time when a president can act to stop a tragedy from occurring without being held politically accountable one way or the other. If he does it and fails, he's wrong. If he does it and succeeds, he was never right because it didn't happen. If we go in and stop an act of genocide, we can't prove what we stopped.

- Author: [Joe Biden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden.md)
- Book: [Promises to Keep](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep.md)
- Page: 281
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Promises_to_Keep_(2008)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/there-is-never

## More from this book

> The carnage was over, but there was still a bitter taste in my mouth.

p. 284 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/the-carnage-was.md)

> I think you're a damn war criminal and you should be tried as one.

p. 266 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-think-youre.md)

> I believe all Americans are born with certain inalienable rights. As a child of God, I believe my rights are not derived from the Constitution. My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not denied by any majority. My rights are because I exist. They were given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our creator, and they represent the essence of human dignity....

p. 194 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-believe-all.md)