Joe Biden's Legacy: Four Successes And Four Failures

(MENAFN- The Conversation) The Biden administration comes to an end on January 20. Joe Biden joins Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush on the list of single-term presidents in the modern era. So, how will the Biden presidency be remembered?

His average job approval rating of 42% across his term suggests he would be ranked well below average by the US public right now. He was rated at 39% in December – exactly the same as his predecessor Donald Trump's rating just before he left office.

But in many ways, Biden's rating is a better representation of the Political schism in the US, rather than an unbiased assessment of his performance in the office. So, what did he get right?

Biden came into office at the start of the second wave of COVID. His administration's handling of the crisis and the advice given to the public was in stark contrast to the chaos of the Trump administration.

Although experts have suggested the Biden White House failed to rebuild trust between the US public and the presidency on this issue, it managed to articulate a clear, logical plan to deal with COVID and, for the most part, implement a vaccine rollout that was effective, rectifying previous supply problems with sourcing vaccines. And the polls seemed to agree, with nearly half (47.8%) of Americans approving of Biden's COVID strategy – although this was skewed by party lines (80.9% of Democrats against only 18.6% of Republicans).

Biden's continued and unwavering support for Ukraine has been met with fierce opposition from Maga Republicans in Congress ever since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Efforts at providing substantial support were delayed by the speaker, Mike Johnson, when the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm elections.

However, polls from August of last year suggest that not only are the majority of Americans more sympathetic to Ukraine than Russia, but more Americans want to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes. US support has been critical to Ukraine's effort to repel the Russian invasion, and has inspired Nato allies to do the same.

Biden has managed to double the number of Americans who have access to affordable healthcare. The administration recently announced that almost 25 million Americans have signed up during the 2025 open enrolment period, compared with the 12 million who signed up during the last year of the Trump administration.

As part of the 2021 America Rescue Plan , Democrats were able to increase tax credits for those who qualified for assistance and also capped health insurance premiums. However, the future of the healthcare plan, introduced by President Obama, will be up for debate in Congress in 2025. Trump has been a long-term critic of the Obamacare initiative, which aimed to make health insurance more affordable.

The administration's economic performance exceeded many forecasters' expectations, especially in job creation. Biden will be the first president under whom jobs were created during every month they were in office.

The economy created 2.23 million jobs in the final year of Biden's term. Although it was just 12,000 jobs in October , the statistics for the remainder of his term are impressive. This has been driven by significant moves such as the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal , which instigated significant federal investment in national infrastructure, and the Chips and Science Act , which saw significant investment in the building of microprocessor chip plants.

So, why didn't Biden get re-elected if he got all of these things right? The Democrats have been criticised for not communicating these successes effectively. But more importantly, Biden underperformed significantly in other economic areas. These were:

As much as Biden got right, the administration failed to solve the inflation crisis. It averaged 5.4% per year during his time in the White House, and made him an easy target for Trump to criticise during the 2024 election. Inflation was identified by 41% of Americans polled in May 2024 as their most important financial worry.

The US's withdrawal from Afghanistan was decided during the Trump administration, but the surprise evacuation in August 2021 under Biden was chaotic and left allies in the lurch. Although the majority of Americans (54% of those polled ) agreed with leaving Afghanistan, 69% said Biden did a poor job in handling the departure. UK defence chiefs stated the US decision was not what they had hoped for.

Read more: Afghanistan: why a visibly distressed government minister had to admit that 'some people won't get back'

Immigration has been a weight around the Biden administration's neck. Despite attempts to push through a number of bills such as the US Citizenship Act 2021 (which, for various reasons, Republicans have blocked ), the administration has failed miserably in controlling illegal immigration. Biden's polling numbers on immigration have been in terminal decline, revealing a nation that lacked any confidence in his ability to solve the crisis.

Biden's refusal to withdraw from the presidential campaign looked desperate. Even when significant donors and Democrats refused to support him, he stayed in the race. But his performance in the presidential debate finally brought his ambitions for a second term in office to an end. By not bowing out gracefully, his legacy has been tarnished – and those images of him struggling in the debate will last long in the memory.

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