On Sept. 11, 2021, to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack on our nation, President Joe Biden attended a ceremony in New York City with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Biden did not speak, but he was the cause of an inadvertently illustrative image. A photographer caught him with his mask down, apparently shouting to get somebody’s attention, while the fellow attendees stood by somberly. Standing next to him, Obama — never one with a good poker face — seems to give him a sideways glance, as if to say, “C’mon, man. You’re the president. Act like it!”

The scene was a perfect snapshot of a challenge Biden is thus far failing: adapting his emotive persona to his new position. Uncle Joe has spent so many years trying to be just one of the guys that it’s unclear whether he can be leader of the pack. The former senator has spent decades in public life chasing the presidency to become the proverbial dog who finally caught the car. And he looks nearly as out of place in the Oval Office as the dog would look sliding into the driver’s seat of his new quarry.