The Under-Appreciated, But Incredible Biden Presidency
Joe Biden has had one of the most successful administration, but the vibes aren't on their side.
Joe Biden has had one of the most successful Presidencies in modern history.
Yet, if you say that to super progressive folks or super MAGA folks you will get the same eye-rolling response before a tirade about why that is wrong. (He isn’t even getting credit for uniting those two opposite factions)
Yet, from a legislative side he hit the ground running with the American Rescue Plan before moving on to a long-delayed infrastructure bill, a long thwarted gun bill, a super important semiconductor bill, and a smaller, but no less significant, budget reconciliation bill, that among other things lowers the cost of prescription drugs and made a historic investment in fighting climate change.
He also presided over the confirmation of the first black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States, got student loan relief, and has successfully held the west together in providing support to Ukraine.
Then, this week during the first midterm election of his presidency, Democrats won multiple state governments, are very likely to hold the United States Senate, and only lost a historically low number of seats in the House.
We are waiting on the final numbers but it will be far less than over 30 Trump lost and the over 60 Obama lost.
Yet, people still shrug at the Biden Administration. I get it, he isn’t lighting the world on fire when it comes to “vibes,” but wow is a lot of movement happening under his administration.
The worst thing you can say is that he is incredibly lucky. Sure, okay, maybe he has been dealt some good hands, but he also played them very well. Going back to the 2020 Democratic Primary he caught a break in South Carolina, but then used that to consolidate support, and go on to winning the 2020 Presidential Election by a historic 7 million votes.
I don’t think you can say this is all “luck” or that he has been passive. Trump caught a historically lucky break in 2016 and then spent the next four years squandering it. Biden, I think we need to accept, has some political skill.
This isn’t an endorsement of a 2024 Biden run for a second term. This is just laying out that his first term has been historically successful. Maybe, at some point, the vibes will catch up.