For policy wonks like me, the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign offers a smorgasbord of interesting ideas. But as a four-time White House appointee, I know it will take more than a pile of plans to achieve progress: We need a leader who can make those plans a reality — and a president who can heal the gaping wounds Donald Trump has left in our country. For me, that candidate is my former boss, Joe Biden.

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Biden’s human qualities make him a better leader and a more effective politician. In February of 2009 — a few weeks into the Obama presidency — the administration’s key economic recovery package was in trouble. The country was hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, and the president was pressing for emergency legislation to prevent a second Great Depression.

Republican leaders opposed Barack Obama’s plan and vowed to defeat it. Every single Republican in the House voted no. The plan came to the Senate, where the White House needed three Republicans to vote yes — or else it would die, delivering a body blow to the economy and to Obama’s new presidency.

Joe Biden was the person who got those three “yes” votes and got the bill passed. As a result, America reversed its downward spiral and made huge investments in clean energy, new roads, electric cars, tax relief for working class families, and help for those in need with expanded food stamps. The president put Biden in charge of what was the largest domestic program since the New Deal; he hit every target for getting the aid out quickly and without waste.

But if Biden knows how to win Republican votes to get things done, he also knows how to deliver change against implacable opposition. He played a key role in working with Obama and Democratic congressional leaders to pass the Affordable Care Act (an achievement he memorably called a “BFD”), helping to hold Democrats together and defending them against GOP attacks. He took on and beat the NRA twice in shepherding the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban to passage.

And make no mistake: Biden’s soft heart toward people in need is matched with an iron will when needed. Unlike Trump’s groveling to dictators, Biden traveled to the Balkans and called dictator Slobodan Milosevic a “war criminal” to his face. He confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin in person in the Kremlin. He would repair our relations with our allies and restore the dignity of the presidency on a global stage.

Critics have suggested that Biden wants a “throwback” presidency. But his campaign is not about a restoration of a time gone by, but rather a realization of an American promise not yet achieved. When he calls for a country based on the timeless principle that government should check the abuse of power, this isn’t a gauzy appeal to a time before Trump, but rather a bold statement of the kind of future we can build together if we are willing to try. It is exactly what we need in a time of powerful forces trying to arrest social and economic progress.

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