In the shadow of his predecessor’s impeachment trial, President Joe Biden is taking up the challenge of restoring America’s tarnished image in the world by making this case: The nation has survived an attack on its own democracy and actually emerged from it stronger, not weaker.

This may sound like a rationalization, given his presidency is living now with a violent, abusive partner in the domestic opposition, but Biden actually is smart to be tackling the GOP elephant in the room. As former President Donald Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial unfolds, our friends and foes abroad can see clearly we need to get our own house in order before we start telling other nations what to do.

Only credible, effective policy can change public opinion at home and abroad, and Biden made a good start in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. Even as he promised to move forward with hosting a “Summit of Democracy” early in his administration to rally other nations “to defend democracy globally,” he needed to acknowledge America’s low point on that score.

Biden has more foreign policy experience than any president since George H.W. Bush, and he demonstrated it in speeches over the past week with his clear recognition that foreign and domestic policy are inextricably linked. He understands the importance of framing U.S. power on the basis of cherished American values supporting freedom, democracy and human rights. He traveled to the State Department last week and the Pentagon Wednesday to lay down his marker that America and its diplomacy are back in the fight.

“Though many of these values have come under intense pressure in recent years, even pushed to the brink in the last few weeks,” the president said, “the American people are going to emerge from this moment stronger, more determined and better equipped to unite the world in fighting to defend democracy, because we have fought for it ourselves.”

To accomplish that goal, Biden is heeding Abraham Lincoln’s dictum that “public sentiment is everything” in trying to achieve a winning strategy. He is courting the U.S. public for their buy-in. That’s a hard sell at a time when so many Americans supported his predecessor’s “America First” doctrine, which scolded allies, abandoned agreements, built walls, shunned immigrants, banned Muslims and coddled dictators.

A Biden Doctrine of reengaging the world will need at least enough support on both sides of the aisle to be credible at home if it is to be successful abroad. The president rightly started making the case — one he will need to keep making — that America is restoring order in its own house.

He cited a list of steps his administration has already taken to “to live our democratic values at home,” overturning the travel ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and the ban on transgender individuals in the military, restoring a commitment to truth and scientific facts and underscoring support for the role of a free press in a healthy democracy as well as transparency and accountability in government.

But the symbolic nature of his speech was equally important. He told foreign service officers, staff and diplomats he trusted them, had their backs and supported their mission. He has brought a host of internationalist advisers back into his administration. The U.S. diplomatic retreat from the world is over.

The U.S. cannot foster a global order based on democratic principles when American government faces persistent gridlock at home, bitter divisions and acts of violence from domestic terrorists.

Biden already has called the leaders of America’s closest allies to pledge cooperation on issues such as COVID-19, economic recovery, immigration, climate change and bolstering the NATO alliance. A good start, for sure.

But America’s power to influence the world by modeling liberal democracy and the rule of law has diminished. The U.S. will need to bring more humility and collaboration as it seeks to take its seat at the global diplomatic table again. It must also deal with the millions of Americans who still believe Trump’s big lie that he actually won the Nov. 3 election.

Without truth and reconciliation at home, it will be hard for Biden to govern effectively, let alone to again project credible U.S. policy, influence and leadership around the globe.

Storer H. Rowley, a former national editor and foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, teaches journalism and communication at Northwestern University. © 2021 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.