There’s no sugarcoating what happened. Pushed out of the race by his own party and mostly out of sight since he withdrew his candidacy, President Biden in the eyes of some is a tragic figure. But that’s not the case. His poll rating has risen 10 points, to 46 percent.

History unfolds in mysterious ways and Biden has the chance to be a more consequential president for the remainder of his term than if he’d stayed in the race.

When he appears with Kamala Harris in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Thursday, he will get a hero’s welcome. His chosen successor is blowing up the race in a good way. And by validating Biden’s judgment, he confers the legitimacy of his brand of moderate, get-things-done politics on her, a legitimacy it would otherwise be impossible for her to achieve without his stature backing her.

The Russian hostages’ release early this month is a testimony to Biden’s strength of knowledge and his personal contacts across the globe. The complex deal freed 16 political prisoners and required the engagement of seven countries. Biden said he asked the leaders of Germany and Slovenia to do things that were against their interests. Harris stood with Biden on the airport tarmac to greet the returnees.

The relationship between a president and vice president is always complicated, and no one knows that better than Biden, who served two terms with Barack Obama. A late-night greeting of released........

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