Former President Joe Biden, in his first public address since finishing prostate cancer treatment, urged “optimism” in a time of political divisions in an address lacking any of the state or city leaders.

Biden, looking somewhat weakened by his health battle, spoke as no sitting senator, governor or Boston mayor were in attendance.

“As divided as our country is today, we can do better,” Biden said in Boston Sunday at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Dorchester.

He didn’t name anyone on either side of political spectrum, but he did say “America is constantly being tested. … it’s a constant push and pull.”

Biden was the headliner at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute’s 10th Anniversary celebration, where the former president received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 82-

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