Although the President of the United States is the most scrutinized person on the planet, myopia invariably sets in as we assess them in real time. Often our impressions are dominated by the caricatures we’re served up in the media—a bumbling Gerald Ford, hapless Jimmy Carter, intellectually feeble Ronald Reagan, inept George W. Bush, or doddering Grandpa Joe Biden.
It’s a remarkable transformation for the folksy “Uncle Joe” who first took office in 2021, and one that was cemented after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
But what Biden has accomplished over the past four years, drawing on his extensive political and diplomatic experience, speaks resoundingly to his effectiveness as one of the best one-term Presidents in American history.
Early in his term he unified the Democratic Party around his leadership with impressive rapidity, quieting those who predicted he would be co-opted or defied by his party’s unruly left flank. Among other things, he created unity task forces designed to bring progressive and moderate Democrats together to identify areas of agreement, informing his ambitious domestic agenda.
The party harmony came to bear in his congressional wins, becoming signature accomplishments. A veteran horse trader and sausage maker through his 36 years in the Senate and eight years as Barack Obama’s Vice President, Biden championed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, mitigating the economic fallout due to COVID-19; the $1 trillion Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, repairing dilapidated roads and bridges, and allowing for massive investment in rural broadband; the CHIPS Act, reducing dependence on the foreign manufacturing of critical semiconductor chips; and two of the most sweeping gun safety bills in nearly three decades. And when his $2 trillion Build Back Better bill was voted down, Biden resurrected it as the still-significant $800 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in August 2022. All…
