The Good and the Bad of Joe Biden’s Presidency

Joe Biden concludes his single term as, paradoxically, one of the best and worst presidents to occupy the Oval Office. 

Biden’s remarkable service to the country includes defeating Donald Trump in 2020 — which in that moment had the air of saving American democracy. A seasoned dealmaker from his career in the Senate, Biden then began racking up a prodigious legislative record — including historic investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and climate resilience — that places him among the most accomplished Democrats since FDR. Though it did him little good politically, Biden compiled a legislative and policy record that would be the envy of many two-term presidents. 

Unfortunately, Biden’s best legislative achievements may be forgotten, as some were only temporary — and others could soon be undone by Republicans. Biden’s mistakes and shortcomings will likely be felt far longer, as he now cedes control of America to Trump, a Congress fully controlled by conservatives, and a far-right Supreme Court supermajority dedicated to rolling back the past century of American progress — and which has already bestowed on Trump unprecedented powers. The violence and destruction that the Biden administration supported overseas will, of course, be permanent. 

Trump’s authoritarian aims pose a grievous threat to the democratic institutions and norms Biden has long held dear — and which Biden failed to protect and, in some ways, crucially undermined as president, himself. Biden’s story arc could be the stuff of a Greek tragedy. Unfortunately for the rest of us, it’s real life.

Below we review the Good and the Bad of Biden’s four years in office — and consider how we’ll remember his presidency.

The Good

Historic climate spending: Biden’s biggest win was the Inflation Reduction Act, which in fact was the largest climate investment in American history — nearly half-a-trillion dollars to advance deployment of electric cars, green energy, home efficiency, and climate-smart agriculture, putting America on a path to slash peak carbon emissions in half by 2030.

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Infrastructure investments: The president also secured a bipartisan deal on infrastructure that had famously eluded his Art of the Deal predecessor through a tragicomic procession of “infrastructure weeks.” The $1.2 trillion package spurred long-overdue investments in America’s roads, bridges, ports, and levees.

Negotiating drug prices: Under Biden, Democrats finally delivered, in part, on their promise to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Virtually all other governments do this, but Congress for decades barred Medicare from attempting to reduce prices. Biden signed legislation creating a drug negotiation pilot program targeting a suite of expensive drugs. The law also capped the cost of insulin for seniors. Now, there’s a question of whether Republicans will roll these wins back. 

Withdrawing from Afghanistan: Though the chaotic end of the war cost him politically, Biden finished America’s seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, concluding the costly neo-con blunder begun under George W. Bush. 

Fighting for student debt relief: The administration fought aggressively to lower and eliminate student loan debt. Though its loftiest goals were foiled by Republican attorneys general and the conservative Supreme Court, Biden still secured relief for millions of debtors totaling approximately $180 billion.

Removing prisoners on federal death row: In the wake of his defeat, Biden largely cleared out the federal death row, commuting 37 sentences to life without parole, aiming to prevent another Trump “killing spree.” 

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The Bad

Running for re-election: Biden ran for president at the age of 78, promising to be a “bridge to the next generation” — then he changed his mind. His hubris led him to run for reelection, and he refused to step aside and make room for a younger and more capable candidate. Biden’s staff and First Lady Jill Biden deserve considerable blame for this decision, as they took pains to isolate Biden and hide his deteriorating health from others — and his aides worked furiously to mock, downplay, or bury credible reports of his mental and physical decline. In his lone 2024 debate with Trump, Biden was quickly exposed as categorically unfit to govern for four more years. His insistence on running again foreclosed any chance of a Democratic primary contest — and while he ultimately ended his re-election bid and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, the political die had been cast. Biden’s decision to run again is likely the biggest factor responsible for ushering in the second Trump era.

The economy: Taking office during the pandemic, Biden oversaw passage of the American Rescue Plan which included nearly $2 trillion in stimulus — including popular and poverty-slashing safety net expansions like the increase to the child tax credit. Under Biden’s management, the U.S. bounced back from Covid-era job losses and reached historic lows in unemployment. In total, the administration oversaw nearly 17 million new jobs, with incomes that ultimately rose faster than prices. But Biden also oversaw the roll back of the pandemic-era safety net — at a time when Americans were fending with high inflation, affecting prices everywhere, and higher interest rates. While the economy looks strong by Washington’s metrics, a shockingly high percentage of Americans have had difficulty paying their bills — and voters punished Democrats for it in November. 

Failing to reform the Supreme Court: Biden installed nearly 230 federal judges, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit as a justice on the Supreme Court. But he missed his moment to demand Supreme Court reforms, choosing to set up a bipartisan commission instead; by the time it proposed any changes, Republicans had won control of the House. Under Biden, the Supreme Court went on a rampage, overturning federal abortion rights; limiting the government’s ability to protect the environment; ending affirmative action; allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers; and offered Trump a broad shield against criminal prosecution for acts committed as president. The public also learned that conservative Supreme Court justices for years failed to disclose luxury gifts provided by billionaire donors. Democrats made little effort to hold them accountable.  

Failing to codify abortion rights: In 2020, Biden boldly promised if he were elected president he would make Roe v. Wade “the law of the land.” Despite the fact that Democrats won control of the House and Senate that year, the party failed to codify protections for abortion in Biden’s first years in office. Fast forward to 2022, and — surprise! — the Supreme Court decides that 50 years of precedence is wrong, and actually, women do not have a constitutional right to an abortion. The once avowedly pro-life Biden was then put in the awkward position of acting as the primary defender of reproductive rights nationwide. He made an effort, we’ll give him that: working to remove barriers to access to mifepristone, and issuing guidance reminding medical providers that federal law requires they offer emergency medical care — including abortions — to patients. But with one in five American women living under an abortion ban, these measures felt wholly insufficient. By the time the 2024 election got underway, Biden (and later Harris) were left once again promising to codify Roe v. Wade.  

Appointing Merrick Garland: If Biden had appointed an aggressive attorney general to prosecute Trump for the violence of Jan. 6, a different president might be getting inaugurated Monday. Instead Biden chose a hesitant Merrick Garland to lead the Justice Department, which ultimately allowed Trump to run out the clock on his federal prosecutors. Special Counsel Jack Smith wrote in his report on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results that his office had gathered enough evidence “to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.” It didn’t matter, as Trump had already won another term in office by the time the report saw the light of day. 

Gaza: The biggest stain on Joe Biden’s legacy as president will forever be his abdication of moral leadership as Israel indiscriminately bombed the Gaza Strip, decimating schools and hospitals; targeted humanitarian aid workers and journalists; orphaned, widowed, and slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians, while starving many, many more. Biden periodically criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war, but failed to rein him in. Instead, Biden ensured a steady stream of weapons continued to flow into Israel, as his aides routinely downplayed and defended the atrocities. After Trump won, and sent his own envoy to meet with Netanyahu, Israel suddenly agreed to a cease-fire deal proposed many months ago — demonstrating what has been clear the whole time: Biden could have ended this war much sooner if that’s what he wanted.