When Joe Biden was sworn in as president in January 2021, few commentators could have known what to truly expect from the nearly octogenarian beltway veteran. For eight years, his job was to support President Obama’s agenda, rather than lead with his own. Biden has also shifted his position on a number of core issues over his career, was elected in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic with global economic consequences and took office following the unprecedented two impeachments of his immediate predecessor, the latter of which was in response to a deadly attack on the Capitol challenging the results of the presidential election.
To say that times were not normal at the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency is an understatement worthy of some award.
However, as Biden nears the end of his first Congress since moving to the White House, it is already clear that his is a presidency of consequence. President Biden has signed legislation into law to bolster the economy and combat COVID-19, improve infrastructure, fight climate change, curtail gun violence, strengthen American manufacturing and innovation, safeguard women and ensure protections for same-sex couples.
This of course, occurred amid a Congress that was deeply impacted by COVID, leading it to enact the fewest number of laws in at least 50 years. President Biden has also taken executive action to protect reproductive rights, ease the burden of college debt and dispense justice to individuals incarcerated for minor drug offenses.
Biden has scored points outside of the legislative arena and his executive actions as well. His judicial nominations have moved forward at a respectable pace, characterized by diversity and the historic confirmation of the nation’s first Black female Supreme Court justice. On foreign policy, the Biden administration turned staunchly away from Russia, regained American standing in the international community, ended the Afghanistan War and assassinated al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The unemployment rate has also dropped to 3.7 percent, roughly where it was before the pandemic and well below its 20-year average. Voters rewarded Biden at the ballot box with Democrats elected to retain control of the Senate and Republicans gaining only a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
Yet, the United States has not transformed into a flourishing woke utopia under President Biden. The economy continues to struggle in the face of high inflation and rising interest rates. The country also remains divided, with many Americans still believing that Donald Trump rightfully won the 2020 election. As a result of these trends, and perhaps also because of an office tarnished by his predecessor, President Biden’s approval numbers remain relatively low by historical standards.
That Biden has achieved so much in the face of such challenges and yet continues to struggle with an unfavorable economy makes his presidency thus far most akin to that of President George H.W. Bush. Both men served as two-term vice presidents, were elected president after decades of high-level positions in Washington, achieved foreign policy victories, took on the gun lobby and grappled with a struggling economy.
Yet, whether this trend holds true and Biden is ultimately considered a better-than-average president may depend on how he copes with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives that is intent on investigating his son, blocking his agenda and may be willing to shut the government down to achieve its objectives. Only time will tell what becomes of the Biden agenda and legacy. But if one thing is clear it is that Biden’s experience during the 117th Congress has been characterized by measured success in the face of adversity.
Harry William Baumgarten served as legislative director and counsel to members of the House of Representatives. He is also a member of the Supreme Court Bar whose writings have been featured in leading domestic and international publications.