On the first day of his presidency, Joe Biden decorated the empty Oval Office with portraits of world leaders to inspire him with a spirit to lead. Among these pictures included Benjamin Franklin, César Chavéz, Rosa Parks, and a Chiricahua Apache on horseback. The boldest piece was the painting of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which hung directly across from the Resolute desk.
The painting was perhaps the most conspicuous fixture to Biden’s White House; while campaigning in 2020, he had regularly invoked the 32nd president. According to advisors, he admired and wanted to replicate FDR’s unrelenting optimism in the face of a national crisis. It was a daunting task. The second Roosevelt had captured Americans’ hearts with his empathetic “fireside chats” heard over the radio, and his iron will reflected through his “fear itself” and “day of infamy” speeches.
Though Biden’s inaugural was at the same level of indelibility, it was close enough. Proclaiming that: “Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge,” Biden represented a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s opening vow to end the “American carnage.” The incoming president instead praised his people for their “decency and dignity”, and pushed back against the rampant pessimism felt by most of the nation.
But this wasn’t just mere rhetoric. Biden’s Build Back Better agenda was largely reminiscent of the New Deal proposed by FDR in his 1932 campaign: he proposed a massive plan to revitalize the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession. After witnessing Barack Obama’s so-called “jobless recovery” firsthand, which was sluggish to get the economy moving again, Biden decided that for his second go at fiscal revitalization, he would spend more on stimulus. Along with this, he wanted to get Americans vaccinated and reopen the country, as well as recover the US’ standing amongst allies, which had tumbled amidst four years of the isolationist Trump administration. He also eyed more ambitious goals such as sweeping climate reform, bipartisan gun control , renegotiations on medicare, and universal pre-K—all objectives he watched slip out of Obama’s hands. It was another parallel to FDR, whose New Deal was not just recovery, it was an effective political tool to confront other issues as well.
Yet, there was still one issue with his Rooseveltian dreams. An FDR, Biden was not.
Most Americans remember FDR as the president who was elected to the White House four times and was entering his 13th year in office upon his death. Biden, on the other hand, had flat out said,“I view myself as a transition candidate” during an online fundraiser. His campaign largely focused on the idea that he was part of the old guard of Washington, returning to serve the nation one last time before passing the torch to a new generation. Even if he never said so directly, many voters could plausibly assume that he was never going to be a two-term president. By the time of inauguration day, he was 78; if re-elected, he would have been 86 by the time he left office, an age practically unforeseen—even in a political system dominated by older Americans. Not to mention that Biden was never seen as a very inspiring figure. Biden captured the nomination largely through his sheer experience and Democratic faith that he could beat Trump, not because he was the most charismatic guy.
Yet despite this, he boasted a great deal of public confidence in the opening months of his presidency. Though part of this was due to the so-called “honeymoon” that most presidents experience at the start of their campaign (he opened with a solid 57% approval rating), the country was slowly veering away from the era it had left. Donald Trump had left office deeply unpopular (34%), and he had lost much of his support from the public at large including many conservatives following his refusal to concede the 2020 election, and even more so following the riot at the capitol on January 6th.
The first month of his post-presidency was essentially preoccupied by his impeachment trial which, despite an eventual verdict of acquittal, showed an unprecedented seven Republican senators voting to oust the party’s leader.
So many Americans didn’t mind Biden’s efforts to torch Trump’s legacy. He got rid of the bans on transgender soldiers and travel from Muslim countries, cut funding for the Space Force and the border wall, and effectively re-entered the Paris Climate Accords. The reversals went deeper than policies too. Biden reportedly ordered the golf equipment to be cleared from the White House, and muttered “What a fucking asshole” while his team removed the clubs.
His immediate focus was of course the lingering effects of COVID. His plan for national recovery, known as the Build Back Better plan, was directly based on the New Deal, Roosevelt’s sweeping programs for post-Great Depression rehabilitation. Biden first pursued an ambitious $350-million vaccination campaign that ended up tremendously successful. Americans received over 200 million vaccinations in the first 1o0 days of his presidency, almost double the predicted amount. By the end of his term, 81% had gotten at least one shot. He also sat in on congressional conversations that eventually came to fruition when in November he signed the American Rescue Plan Act, which injected $1.9 trillion dollars of economic stimulus into the nation. By the end of the year, things were looking less dire. The unemployment rate had slid to 4% from 6.5% and the country’s GDP was growing faster than expected, at a stunning 6%. It was a momentous achievement.
Yet not many noticed.
Less optimistic news had been swirling about the administration since August, when a foreign policy conundrum for the ages finally came to an embarrassing conclusion, when Biden ordered troops to come home from the 2 decade-long war in Afghanistan. While the withdrawal was coming anywars, the Taliban’s capture of the capital, Kabul, on the 15th of August, sparked a rushed and ill-prepared escape by the US army. On the 26th, where 13 American soldiers and 169 Afghan civilians were killed after a suicide bomber attacked an airport hosting American aircraft. A few days later, in response, the US military ordered a drone strike on what they perceived to be the culprit’s car, yet it instead turned out to be an aid convoy. The attack killed 10 civilians, including children. The final American troops left by the end of the month.
Biden’s capping speech was off-puttingly triumphant.“The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military,” Biden said the next day. “With all my heart, I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.”
Most Americans disagreed.
Heading into the new year, Biden held a 40% approval rating as news continued to break about the inadequacies of the exit, and as the new Taliban-headed Afghan government continued to oppress its people. The president quickly met the reality that his ambitions wouldn’t be supported by his ability to communicate with the public, an issue that would persist throughout the rest of his term. His inability to present crises as rallying points, much unlike FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech on the offset of the Pearl Harbor attacks, would ultimately be a leading factor in his eventual towering disapproval ratings. Looking ahead to that year’s midterm elections, it seemed like the Democrats were in for a sweeping defeat.
Yet another international crisis instead seemed prepared to boost his fortunes. On February 24th, 2022 Russian president Vladimir Putin concluded months of suspense when it declared war on Ukraine and began a full-scale invasion into the country. The public soon rallied behind the Eastern European nation, and Biden wasted no time to declare his solidarity with the Ukranians. He pledged $800 million in aid, costly sanctions on Russia, as well as weapon sales to their military. “America stands up to bullies,” Biden declared. “This is who we are.” In hindsight, the dilemma in Europe seemed like a policy failure. Had he undergone diplomatic sessions to make a treaty between the two nations, especially before the US showed weakness in Afghanistan, any such conflict might’ve been prevented. Failure or not though, it was an effective chance for Biden to snatch up the political capital, and his polls began to show moderate improvement.
His winning streak continued. He managed to pass a slew of bipartisan legislation, including the Safer Communities Act, a landmark gun control bill, the CHIPs Act, a move against Chinese shipping, and the Respect of Marriage Act, which codified same-sex and interracial marriage. In July, he completed a common presidential milestone of ordering the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Yet his critics found an easy point to attack. Inflation had been on the rise since the end of the pandemic, but after Biden’s major spending bills it began to spiral out of control, effectively ballooning costs of gas and groceries. By the Summer, it had reached an unprecedented peak of 10%. Whatever gains he had made with the public through Ukraine, it risked souring once again. Stickers showing the president saying “I did this” could be seen plastered on gas pumps as middle class families began to struggle to bear the weight of the crisis. Seeking to tie the issue with the pandemic rather than his own spending (which wouldn’t be an incorrect proposition), he crafted his next major legislation around reducing costs. The bill, titled the Inflation Reduction Act, was signed in August as the most expansive program of Biden’s administration. It enforced major carbon emission limits, drug cost cuts, and national deficit slashes, yet it failed to do the one thing that the title had promised: reduce inflation. Though costs sank over the next few years, it was a slow, hurting process and one that would be one of Biden’s greatest liabilities in the coming elections.
Yet one final Summer shake-up proved to be the ultimate one. On June 24th the conservative supermajority of the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v Wade, thus ending the guaranteed right of women to get an abortion. The backlash from independents and liberals alike gave shockwaves against the ruling, and quickly Republican candidates attempted to distance themselves from the decision.
The November verdict was far better than what the Democrats had expected. Despite the obvious liabilities relating to Afghanistan and inflation, voters rewarded them with a victory in the Senate, and though the House of Representatives was captured by the GOP, it came with an ever-so-slim majority. Though many voters in exit polls described themselves as being uninspired by Biden’s leadership, they cared too deeply about issues like abortion and Ukraine to vote for the other side.
Yet a week after the election, Donald Trump announced his re-election campaign in spite of his party’s disappointing performance. The odds were clearly stacked up against him. Trump was very unpopular in his single term as president, and even more so after becoming the first president to be criminally indicted and as the House January 6th committee painted a portrait of liability for the capitol riot. Many Republicans were also unlikely to support him for the nomination as well, especially after his chances of winning seemed low after many of the candidates he campaigned for – including celebrities like Herschel Walker and Mehmet Oz – lost in stunning defeats. Former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, and even his own vice president Mike Pence all would go on to run against him.
Biden worried about the idea of a second Trump presidency. He himself had referred to the MAGA movement as “semi-fascism” in a Michigan event, and was widely known for his loathing of the ex-president. Yet in that moment of response, Biden decided upon the worst mistake of his entire presidency: to run again. On April 25th he announced he was starting his re-election campaign, a proposition even more ludicrous than Trump’s. Disregarding the obvious age issue, Biden’s political fortunes had well seemed to dry out. With a depressing approval rating of 37%, it appeared like a struggle. After the announcement, it was recorded that over half of Democrats wanted a different candidate.
At that point of time, Biden was already struggling with a seemingly legendary immigration crisis. Though it had mostly been outpaced by other issues in the midterms, it was quickly picking up steam. The past December, around a quarter million illegal immigrants were encountered at the US-Mexico border. Biden was criticized as having taken too long to effectively address the issue, and many of the president’s withdrawal of Trump-era policies were seen as doing more damage than good for the process. By the Spring of 2023, Biden was beginning to himself begin the construction of the border wall back up. His best attempt at addressing the crisis, by promoting an immigration bill, was sunk by Trump the next year as he urged his party to vote “no” so he could make it an issue for the general election.
That October, another led to Biden’s further political debilitation. On the seventh, Hamas unleashed violent terrorist attacks on Israel, killing over 1,200 and taking 251 hostages. Israel responded by invading the Gaza Strip, sparking a bloody conflict. The issue of Israel-Palestine, already a hot topic at home, became a serious divider. Protests turned violent at colleges, murders were related to the war, and anti-semitism and Islamophobia spiked to unprecedented rates. Biden for his part couldn’t please both sides. He pledged “unequivocal support” to Israel, and continued to give out aid and weapons even as the country became accused of serious war crimes. However, after he finally began cutting some aid, many pro-Israel groups saw him as making concessions to terrorists. Worse still, many on the farthest left of the party refused to support him any further. “Genocide Joe and Killer Kamala”, the heads of the administration were dubbed.
Donald Trump took all these setbacks and amplified them. To him, Biden was a corrupt, senile fraudster who was letting in criminals to ravage red states while meanwhile was orchestrating a third world war across the globe.
The scare tactics seemed to work. Biden was trailing in almost all the polls to Trump, projecting a sort of fearful uncertainty amongst Democrats. Yet no rivals for the nomination came. Biden and his team had managed to downplay age concerns and position him rather implausibly as the only person capable of taking down Trump. Any vocal objections were skirted to the side after Biden managed a confident, well-spoken State of the Union address in March. Trump, on his part, made skillful absences at the Republican debates and was able to scrape past his big-name opponents in the final vote counts.
However, a new shockwave hit the race. Late May, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in the case regarding his alleged hush money dealings after an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump quickly responded by claiming the conviction was engineered by “Biden and his people”, a claim that wasn’t widely supported amongst Americans.
Biden seized on the idea that while most Americans disapproved of the job that he was doing, they would still choose him over a convicted criminal. As the Summer opened with Republican polling hitting a slump, Biden began to look forward to the debate with his opponent late June. Biden, always gaffe-prone and a shaky debater, headed into the debate understanding that his performance could shape his presidency’s future. And it did just that.
On June 27th Biden stumbled onto the CNN stage in Atlanta, cast a faint grin, and headed towards his podium without shaking his opponent’s hand. For any other candidate, this night would be an easy victory. Trump spent the entire night repeating lies on the 2020 election and his legal struggles, called Biden a “very bad Palestinian”, and went off topic for a recorded 50% of the debate, at one point to spar with the incumbent on whether he’d be able to beat him in a golf match.
Yet Biden failed to clear the low bar set by Trump. His voice was notably hoarse, and his posture was in a slump. His arguments were beset by stammering and vocal tics, and his rebuttals were clearly ill-prepared. In one point, soon to become infamous across the internet, the president trailed off while answering a question on the national deficit, slowing down for a murmured stutter, until finally ending with “We finally beat medicare.” His performance finally and clearly showed a side of Biden that had been shielded by aides for months if not years: his decline was obvious. The age issue, purported endlessly by Republicans yet ignored by Democrats, was now impossible to avoid.
In the weeks afterwards, more and more Democrats began calling for Biden to back out of the race. This was met with immediate rejection. Biden insisted that it was just a single bad night, saying that he would not run if he didn’t believe that “with all my heart and soul I can do this.” But his beliefs may have been seriously wrong. Not only were the Democrats losing momentum (Biden’s polling began to dip into the high 30s) but Trump’s favorability was beginning to tick upward. Trump, using conventional political wisdom, transformed his July assassination plot survival into a bout to portray himself as fearless and resilient.
As more and more Democrats urged him to step out and more information on Biden’s mental lapses were made public, Biden continued to sweep aside these calls. Yet finally, on July 21st, the president caved in, becoming the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson to drop out so late in the game. In a letter posted on X, Biden claimed that his achievements merited a second term, yet said that “it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down.” He quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination, which she effectively secured a day later through the usual politicking.
But the damage was already done.
Harris would go on to lose to Trump in a stunning and staggering loss. The Republicans managed to capture all seven swing states, maintaining a 312-226 electoral majority over his opponent. The Democrats also lost the popular vote for the first time since 2004, receiving roughly 2 million votes less than the GOP, which also captured the Senate and the House of Representatives. It has been very convincingly argued that Biden dropped out too late for Harris to run an effective campaign, or for her to separate herself at all from her boss’ more unpopular policies. Biden also didn’t do much to help his vice president on the campaign field, lobbing yet even more gaffes, most damagingly when he called Trump’s supporters “garbage”, an incident that showed how little lessons had been learned from Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” comments.
As Democrats wasted no time blaming Biden for their epic loss, the president still managed to display decency and integrity as he invited Trump to the White House to discuss a smo0th transition, something that was denied to him four years later from the very same person. “Welcome back”, Biden warmly said as he welcomed the president-elect in front of a crackling fire.
Another resolution came to another Biden saga as well. In December he gave his son Hunter an unconditional pardon for his illegal gun ownership conviction and his pending tax crimes indictment. Liberals and conservatives alike hopped on board by denouncing the pardon, especially the president’s claim that his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted”. A few weeks later, as the country headed into the new year, new photos emerged of Biden standing with Hunter’s Chinese associates, raising more questions about his repeatedly-denied connections to his son’s illegal activity.
On the 15th of January, Biden gave his farewell speech: “My eternal thanks to you, the American people.” he said. “After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands — a nation where the strength of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure.” His tone and facial expressions remained steady, strong, yet without much warmth involved. “Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it, too.”
On inauguration day, after witnessing President-elect Trump’s speech firsthand—a fiery address in which he castigated the previous administration’s policies and vowed to usher in a “golden age”—Joe Biden departed Capitol Hill with little fanfare. Four brief years later, Trump exited the White House, his presidency marked by dwindling alliances in Washington and significant erosion of public support. His final approval rating stood at a tepid 40%.
There is little doubt that Joe Biden’s legacy will enjoy a renaissance with the public. History has a tendency to soften its verdicts on presidents who left office under a cloud of unpopularity; George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and even Richard Nixon have all, in time, been reappraised more favorably. Biden’s achievements—most notably shepherding the nation through the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and spurring a robust economic recovery—will be heralded as defining triumphs, particularly if a second Trump administration falters by comparison. Yet his shortcomings, from his reluctance to relinquish the race in 2024 to his faltering foreign policy in the Middle East and sluggish response to the migrant crisis, will remain indelible marks against his presidency.
Biden’s tenure bears echoes of Franklin Roosevelt in its aspirations: a determination to push through an ambitious agenda and rebuild a fractured nation. His legislative successes were deeply rooted in an amiable, collaborative spirit. Yet his inability to preserve political capital, his struggles to adapt to the relentless pace of modern political communication, and his limitations in galvanizing broader coalitions stymied his potential to achieve transformative change. He remains an enigma of contradictions: ambitious yet underwhelming, principled yet ineffectual, both deeply human and frustratingly out of step with the demands of contemporary leadership.
Biden’s presidency should be remembered as one of significance rather than spectacle. His tenure exemplified good-natured, steady leadership during one of the most turbulent periods in recent history—an antidote to the divisiveness that preceded and followed it. He stands as a reminder that even in times of imperfection, integrity and perseverance can provide a guiding hand.
Shiv Gurjar contributed research.
