Paradoxically, Joe Biden ends his single term as one of the best and worst presidents in the Oval Office.
Biden's outstanding contributions to the country include defeating Donald Trump in 2020 - a moment that had the air of saving American democracy. Biden was a seasoned dealmaker during his career in the Senate before beginning to amass a stunning legislative record — including historic investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and climate resiliency — that would make him his first president. One of the most accomplished Democrats since Roosevelt. While it won't do him much good politically, Biden has compiled a legislative and policy record that would be the envy of many two-term presidents.
Unfortunately, Biden's best legislative achievements may be forgotten because some are only temporary and others may be quickly destroyed by Republicans. Biden's mistakes and shortcomings are likely to last longer, as he has now ceded control of the United States to Trump, with a Congress completely controlled by conservatives and a far-right Supreme Court overwhelmingly committed to rolling back America's past. century of progress—and that has put America in trouble. has given Trump unprecedented power. The violence and destruction supported by the Biden administration abroad will, of course, be permanent.
Trump’s authoritarian goals pose a serious threat to the democratic institutions and norms that Biden has long cherished, while Biden himself has failed to protect and, in some respects, severely undermined them. Biden’s storyline could be the stuff of a Greek tragedy. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this is real life.
Below we look back at the good and bad of Biden's four years and consider how we will remember his presidency.
Historical climate spending: Biden’s biggest victory is the Inflation Reduction Act, which is effectively the largest climate investment in U.S. history—nearly half a trillion dollars to advance the deployment of electric vehicles, green energy, home efficiency, and climate-smart agriculture, A path for the United States to cut peak carbon emissions in half by 2030.
Infrastructure investment: The president also struck a bipartisan deal on infrastructure that eluded him during his presidency. The art of trading The predecessor experienced a tragicomic “infrastructure week”. The $1.2 trillion package spurs long-overdue investments in America’s roads, bridges, ports and levees.
Drug Price Negotiation: Under Biden, Democrats finally made partial progress on their promise to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Nearly every other administration does this, but Congress has banned Medicare for decades in an attempt to lower prices. Biden signed legislation creating a drug negotiation pilot program for a range of expensive drugs. The law also limits the cost of insulin for seniors. The question now is whether Republicans will reverse those victories.
Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Although the war's chaotic end cost him politically, Biden ended America's seemingly endless war in Afghanistan and ended the costly neoconservative mistakes begun under George W. Bush.
Fight for student debt relief: The government actively works to reduce and eliminate student loan debt. Even though his most lofty goals were thwarted by Republican attorneys general and a conservative Supreme Court, Biden still provided relief to millions of debtors totaling about $180 billion.
Removing inmates from federal death row: After Biden lost the election, he basically cleared federal death row and commuted 37 death row inmates to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, aiming to prevent another "murderous spree" by Trump.
Running for re-election: Biden ran for president at age 78, promising to be a "bridge to the next generation," but he later changed his mind. His arrogance drove him to run for re-election, but he refused to give way to a younger, more capable candidate. Biden's staff and first lady Jill Biden bear considerable responsibility for the decision, as they took pains to isolate Biden and hide his deteriorating health from others — while his aides desperately Ridiculing, downplaying or covering up credible reports of his mental and physical decline. In his only debate with Trump in 2024, it was quickly revealed that Biden was absolutely unfit to govern for another four years. He insisted on running again, ruling out any chance of entering a Democratic primary — though he eventually ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, a political doom that was sealed. Biden's decision to run again may be the biggest factor in ushering in a second Trump era.
economy: Biden took office during the pandemic and oversaw passage of the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $2 trillion stimulus package that included an expansion of popular poverty-reducing safety nets such as an increase in the child tax credit. Under Biden, the U.S. is recovering from COVID-19 job losses that have reached historic lows. In total, the government created nearly 17 million new jobs, and incomes ultimately grew faster than prices. But Biden also oversaw a rollback of the pandemic-era safety net — at a time when Americans were dealing with high inflation, affecting prices and higher interest rates everywhere. While the economy looks strong by indicators in Washington, a high percentage of Americans are struggling to pay their bills, and voters punished Democrats for it in November.
Failure to reform the Supreme Court: Biden appointed nearly 230 federal judges, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. But he missed the opportunity to demand Supreme Court reform, opting instead to create a bipartisan commission; by the time it proposed any changes, Republicans had already won control of the House. Under Biden, the Supreme Court has struck down federal abortion rights in a sweeping move. limits the government's ability to protect the environment; ends affirmative action; allows businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers; and provides Trump with broad protections from criminal prosecution for actions he committed as president. The public also learned that conservative Supreme Court justices failed for years to disclose lavish gifts from billionaire donors. Democrats have done little to hold them accountable.
Failure to codify abortion rights: In 2020, Biden boldly promised that if elected president, he would Roe v. Wade "The law of the land." Although Democrats won control of the House and Senate that year, the party failed to codify abortion protections in the first years of the Biden administration. Fast forward to 2022, and – surprise! — The Supreme Court rules that the 50-year preemption is wrong and that, in fact, women do not have a constitutional right to an abortion. Biden, once an outspoken opponent of abortion, has since found himself in the awkward position of becoming the nation's leading defender of reproductive rights. He made the effort, and we'll give him credit for it, by working to remove barriers to accessing mifepristone and issuing guidance reminding health care providers that federal law requires them to provide emergency medical care, including abortion, to patients. But with one in five American women living under an abortion ban, these measures feel entirely inadequate. By the time the 2024 election begins, Biden (and later Harris) has renewed their commitment to codifying the law Roe v. Wade.
Appointment of Merrick Garland: If Biden appoints an aggressive attorney general to prosecute Trump for his violence on January 6, a different president could be inaugurated on Monday. Instead, Biden chose a hesitant Merrick Garland to lead the Justice Department, ultimately allowing Trump to burn out his tenure as a federal prosecutor. Special counsel Jack Smith wrote in his report on Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results that his office had gathered enough evidence "to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial." But it didn’t matter because by the time the report came out, Trump had already won another term.
Gaza: The biggest stain on Joe Biden’s presidency will always be his abandonment of moral leadership as Israel indiscriminately bombarded the Gaza Strip, destroying schools and hospitals; targeting humanitarian aid workers and journalists; and orphaning tens of thousands of civilians , widowed and massacred, while many others starved. Biden has regularly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the war but has failed to rein him in. Instead, Biden ensured a steady flow of weapons to Israel, while his aides frequently downplayed and justified atrocities. Israel's sudden agreement to a ceasefire proposed months ago, after Trump won and sent his own envoy to meet with Netanyahu, illustrates what has been clear all along: If Biden wants it, he can The war could have been ended more quickly.