Joe Biden’s inauguration four years ago took place just two weeks after rioters stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of his victory. When Biden’s presidency began with his exhortation that “democracy has prevailed,” few imagined it would end like this: being succeeded by a man who, Biden warned, “will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation.”
“When Joe Biden came into office, he said that he was going to defend democracy against autocracy,” said Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer. “That was Job #1 for him. And everybody knew what he meant.”
Foer wrote a book about President Biden’s first two years in office, titled “The Last Politician.” What did he mean by that? “I was thinking about the way in which our politics is this war of attrition between these two sides that despise one another,” said Foer.
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In 2019 Biden said, “People are saying, ‘Biden just doesn’t get it.’ ‘You can’t work with Republicans anymore.’ ‘That’s not the way it works anymore.’ Well, folks, I’m going to say something outrageous: I know how to make government work.”
According to Foer, “Biden had this very antiquated sense of how he could get things done. He felt like, in order to save American democracy, he needed to prove that this old-fashioned style of politics could still deliver important, meaningful, tangible things for the American people.”
In many ways, President Biden did deliver. His administration oversaw the successful rollout of the COVID vaccine. The stock market steadily rose to record highs, while unemployment fell to a near-record low.
- The class of 2023 is entering the strongest job market in 70 years
Overseas, he expanded NATO, strengthened alliances in Asia with the goal of containing China, and cobbled together lasting support for Ukraine as it defended itself against Russia.
- Robert Gates says NATO expansion “changes the geopolitics of Europe in a dramatic way” (“Face the Nation”)
- Biden meets with European allies in Berlin, says West must keep aiding Ukraine
He did so while racking up major legislative victories, including massive new investments in clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing.
And he scored a win that had eluded his predecessors: signing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
- Biden calls infrastructure bill a “once-in-a-generation” investment after House sends it to his desk
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said a lot of that infrastructure money came New Jersey’s way: “We’re the most densely-populated state in America. So, moving people and things is more important to us probably than any other state, and President Biden did just what he said he would do. I would almost call it a renaissance in American infrastructure. There’s all sorts of projects around our state.
Most notably, the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project, which will expand the century-old tunnels under the Hudson River, and double train capacity between New York and New Jersey. It’s the largest project of its kind in U.S. history.
In his farewell address to the nation Wednesday, Mr. Biden remarked, “It will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together. But the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow, and they’ll bloom for decades to come.”
- In final address, Biden warns of rise of “tech industrial complex” while outlining threats, challenges
Murphy said, “I think it’s a very successful presidency. I think history will treat him very, very well.”
And yet, Mr. Biden was embattled almost from the start, even despite his major milestone accomplishments.
Why? “I think it’s a fair question to ask, is this fair?” said Murphy. “And frankly, I don’t think it is. But it is what it is. I mean, the numbers don’t lie.”
President Biden’s approval ratings started out strong. But they sank six months in, after the deadly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
His polling was pushed down further by high inflation, a record surge in illegal border crossings, and a war in Gaza that divided his party.
- Inflation is cooling, but most Americans say they haven’t noticed
- Biden aide acknowledges missteps on Gaza and regrets failure to express concern over loss of Palestinian life
And then there were the persistent questions about his age that dogged him from the moment he took office.
Asked if he was aware that he was slowing down a little bit, Foer replied, “Anybody who had eyes could watch him walk across the stage and they could see that his gait was stiff. They could see that he shuffled like an old man. And so, he knew he was an old man as well, but I think that he probably overestimated his own political skills, because he’s come back from the dead all of these times.”
Democratic leaders pressured Mr. Biden to leave the race after his disastrous debate performance last June. With just three months to mount her own campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris lost the popular vote, and every swing state. Democrats also lost their majority in the Senate, meaning Republicans will now control the White House and both chambers of Congress, with the power to undo some of Mr. Biden’s work.
And so, the man who launched his campaign with a warning about Donald Trump suddenly finds that his legacy is largely in Trump’s hands.
- How Trump could undo portions of Biden’s climate legacy
- What could Trump’s second term bring? Deportations, tariffs, Jan. 6 pardons and more
- How a Trump Justice Department could shift legal positions at the Supreme Court
- What is Project 2025? What to know about the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration
Foer said, “He was going to prevent Donald Trump from ever returning to the White House. And now, at the end of his presidency, it’s clear by any measure that he failed at his #1 objective. Donald Trump is back.”
For more info:
- Franklin Foer, staff writer, The Atlantic
- “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future” by Franklin Foer (Penguin Press), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Governor Phil Murphy (D-N.J.)
Story produced by Mark Hudspeth. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
See also:
- Biden looks back on long foreign policy legacy, insists he is “leaving the next administration with a very strong hand”
- Biden leaves office believing history will redeem him
- As Biden exits, how will he be remembered for his handling of the U.S. economy?
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- Joe Biden
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