Joe Biden has been strongly as president of the U.S. by 489 current and former national security leaders and senior military officers.
These officials - 22 retired four-star generals and admirals; five former secretaries of defense; senior Pentagon officials and other notable leaders - call themselves the "National Security Leaders for Biden."
In a manifesto "An Open Letter to America" published in several U.S. newspapers, these officials said they had cast their lot with Biden because the former vice president "is the leader our nation needs."
They assert Biden's "character, principles, wisdom and leadership" make him a far better president than Donald Trump.
"We believe that Joe Biden is, above all, a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong," said the letter.
The signatories said Biden was guided by the principles that have long made America great. They are convinced "Biden will always put the nation's needs before his own" in contrast to Trump.
"We believe America's president must be honest, and we find Joe Biden's honesty and integrity indisputable," they said. "He believes a nation's word is her bond."
Biden will strengthen U.S. national security because he believes the country must stand by allies who have stood by us. The signatories asserted Biden will never sell out our allies to placate despots or because he dislikes an allied leader.
"The next president will inherit a nation - and a world - in turmoil," wrote the signatories.
"The current president has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office; he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us."
They said Trump "has ceded influence to a Russian adversary who puts bounties on the heads of American military personnel, and his trade war against China has only harmed America's farmers and manufacturers."
They noted Biden as president will have to deal with these Trump-made challenges. Biden will also have to contend with an economy in a deep recession and a pandemic that has already claimed more than 200,000 American lives.
"Only FDR and Abraham Lincoln came into office facing more monumental crises than the next president."
Among these Biden supporters are former secretary of state Madeleine Albright; former national security adviser and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice and former NASA administrator Charles Bolden. The former defense secretaries who signed the manifesto are Ash Carter, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and William Perry.
