President Biden’s Accomplishments

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, January 11th, 2025 - 33 comments
Categories: climate change, Donald Trump, economy, Joe Biden, Unions, us politics, workers' rights - Tags:

It’s common these days to see the rapid 2024 exit of multiple global social democrat leaders as just a post-COVID symptom of democratic impatience. But Biden achieved far more than his age-related decline obscures.

The first two years of his presidency were all about stabilising the entire country out of crisis, and he and his team wresting with members of Congress, going back and forth. In the first surge of his Presidency he passed some massive legislation that included bringing back semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, fixing roads and bridges, mailing massive recovery cheques to everyon, and starting up  a new kind of green, clean economy.

American Rescue Plan 

Biden generated through this an historically strong and broadly shared economic recovery. This was the American Rescue Plan. This plan drove unemployment down below 4% for 28 months – the longest stretch in over 50 years. This Plan also spurred massive investments in fighting crime, enabling 2023 to get to the lowest rates of violent crime in 50 years, and the sharpest decrease in the murder rate in US history. This plan also had a large Child Tax Credit, and vaccination campaigns, which has led to the lowest child poverty rate in US history. 

Most Pro-Labour President in US History

He got the Department of Labor to raise pay for 4 million workers by increasing overtime  – particularly for workers earning less than US$43,888 per year.

During the 2023 Auto Workers Strike, President Biden made history by becoming the first President to walk the picket line in support of workers. The United Auto Workers’ win was one of their biggest.

Biden’s Butch Lewis Act was the most significant for union retirement security in over 50 years. This protected roughly 2 million workers’ pensions.

Biden also ensured that all Federal construction projects over US$35m to had union labour, higher wages, and higher labour standards.

Facing up to the Climate Crisis

Biden’s inflation Reduction Act had has a major effect on the United States as a climate polluter. In the three years since he signed that Act, more than 330,000 clean energy jobs and US$273 billion in new clean energy investments in nearly every state in the US. Together with the CHHIPS Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act, over US$900 billion in announced private sector clean energy and manufacturing investments were made. This  – together with generous tax breaks from California – enabled the rise of Tesla to be the current dominant player in world electric car production.

Building and Renewing Infrastructure

There’s too much to summarise here, but in brief the massive Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has provided funding and got started over 60,000 infrastructure projects across thousands of communities in all 50 states, tribal areas, and territories.

International Relations

For the most part he ensured the United States interfered a whole lot less in the world. Neither the United States nor the rest of the world found this easy.

He pulled the United States out of its failed  20-year venture to stabilise and improve Afghanistan. It was messy and was always going to be.

He stopped Russia from completely taking over Ukraine, and towards the end of his term generated a further US$800 million loan for armaments that give Ukraine their best chance to resist the most aggressive act by any nation since the Korean War. Russia has been checked and only the US had the resources to deploy to do that. 

His leadership also saw a major expansion of NATO, and continued to give confidence to all NATO countries bordering Russia or its allies that they would be defending.

His effect in the Middle East is a mess that will takes years to recover or even evaluate. On the one hand Israel’s regime is broadly popular in the United States (outside the Arab communities) and in Israel for its total dismantling of Iranian terrorist networks from the Euphrates to the Sinai, and finally the collapse of the frankly evil Assad regime. Biden’s State Department support for the Abraham Accords were the most important diplomatic breakthroughs for Israel and the Middle East since the 1980s. On the other hand Biden’s support for Israel post-October 2023’s widespread terror attack is at the cost of military injury and death in the hundreds of thousands of people both combatants and civilians.

Biggest losses

Biden was unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform, due in part to lobbying from former President Trump. Migrants crossed America’s southern border at record rates during Biden’s tenure, overwhelming government resources and cities that just couldn’t handle the number of people arriving. Arguably if he and his administration had better resourced this border he would have won the 2024 election.

He only got one Supreme Court judge on, so the tilt is very much in the conservative and Republican leaning 6-3. He got several hundred Federal Appeals judges through though.

He and his administration simply didn’t engage enough with South East Asia to regain friends and influence that would have helped in the great contest against China. China’s economic decline is however at least as fast as that of Europe or Russia, and the US remains Numero Uno by most metrics of power and influence and wealth. 

Bottom Line Evaluation

For a one-term administration, Biden’s was one of the most productive and progressive we have ever seen. He was the first since LBJ to suspend his campaign – but he would surely have done better than the weak and incoherent Harris who took over the Democratic Presidential ticket an led the Democrats to catastrophic loss that will take many terms to repair.

Biden will be remembered unfairly less for  his powerful actual delivery and more for his feeble comms delivery. Once this Trump term has finished he will be the last and most effective actual President since Clinton.

33 comments on “President Biden’s Accomplishments ”

  1. Kay 1
    11 January 2025 at 9:52 am

    Not too bad for one who is supposed to be so 'sleepy'.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Joe_(nickname)

    Reply
  2. Darien Fenton 2
    11 January 2025 at 12:38 pm

    Thank you for this. Yes, he was imperfect in many ways, and came in for a lot of criticism for his support for Israel in the Gaza War. But I will always remember him as the most pro-union President of our times and one who walked the picket line.

    Reply
  3. Jenny 3
    11 January 2025 at 12:58 pm

    We have heard of the 'far Left' and the 'far right', I think we need a new designation, the 'far centre'

    Reply
  4. mpledger 4
    11 January 2025 at 3:20 pm

    Biden bought back the "prestige" factor back to America by quietly getting on with it and not looking like a clown. Immigration will go down but it will be the wealthy and the highly-educated who will stay away. The poor will continue to come because where they come from is worse.

    Reply
  5. Binders full of women 5
    11 January 2025 at 3:31 pm

    Judging by the lack of scandal or the fact they were just effective grafters, but all his appointments (chief of staff, press sec, various secretaries of, and joint chiefs) seemed to be sound picks. I mean other than Blinken I can hardly name one.

    Reply
  6. joe90 6
    11 January 2025 at 5:01 pm

    Lots.

    .

    @meidastouch.com‬

    JUST IN: The U.S. added 256,000 jobs in December, surpassing expectations and bringing the total for 2024 to 2.2 million. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, and wages grew 3.9% over the past year, far outpacing inflation

    https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xjc7mkotpenvhh6ffewkdpyn/post/3lffffaz6is2z?

    Updated Jan. 10, 2025 9:06 am ET

    The U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate edged down, the Labor Department said Friday.

    December’s gain in nonfarm payrolls was well above the 155,000 jobs that economists had expected, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. The 4.1% unemployment rate was also better than the expected 4.2%.

    https://archive.li/6nOR2 (wsj)

    https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/

    Reply
  7. weston 7
    11 January 2025 at 11:14 pm

    His legacy will be as a genocide enabling cunt of the first order mostly against palestinians but not exclusively His state department vomit inducing especially the lying scumbag weasel worded Blinken .The damage inflicted on Ukraine by this pack of mongrels starting as far back as 2004 is almost incalcuable but hell what a guy !!!!

    Reply
    • Vaughn 7.1
      12 January 2025 at 10:58 am

      Not the words I’d have used, Weston. But each to their own. Biden had his faults for sure, but underneath it all he was an honourable man, IMO. That’s not a label we can attribute to many of today’s leaders, political or business.

      Reply
      • weston 7.1.1
        12 January 2025 at 11:49 am

        Really and all the dead mothers an children the non combatents the israeli torture camps the mad ethno supremist racist apartheid ruthless suppression of palistinian rights the with holding of aid the killing of health workers bombinng of every hosp the diliberate wanton disregard for international law

        ALL of the above and much much worse America ignored doing anything about and by doing so has declared its true colours .Biden was in charge he too is a war criminal Total scum imo

        But nothing to see here you reckon

        Reply
  8. Ad 8
    12 January 2025 at 12:07 pm

    Very sorry to see Jack Smith resign from the DoJ today.

    Outstanding public servant under Biden.

    I'm sure he won't be the last as Trump's Departmental Heads start their full cleanout, but this guy faced the full might of Trump's wealth and the team it buys, and the stacked Supreme Court many times, took his knocks, and kept going under utterly massive pressure.

    Reply
  9. Gillian 9
    12 January 2025 at 1:27 pm

    needs some proof-reading please

    [lprent: If you want to suggest a change like actual proof-reading, then just write down what you think needs to be changed and show your reason why. If you are trying to say that you disagree with something in the post then just say so and explain your reasoning. If you are cannot express what you think and explain why then just don’t write a comment – think first about what you want to say.

    However if you prefer dithering and not stating what you think and why in some passive stupid aggressive way (while playing with your genitalia and giggling with anticipated excitement) – then piss off.

    Dropping your comments into probation and probably all comments to spam until we see an improvement in commenting. Or until a moderator gets bored and bans you permanently for just being a stupid troll. ]

    Reply
    • Incognito 9.1
      12 January 2025 at 1:37 pm

      Go for it and send your corrections to: proofs.thestandardnz@gmail.com, and the editorial team of TS fact-checkers and type-setters will handle it.

      Reply
      • lprent 9.1.1
        12 January 2025 at 2:06 pm

        Actually you could suggest proofs@thestandard.org.nz, although suggesting they write to answer-the-troll@thestandard.org.nz would be a better choice.

        (Anything that isn’t a actual email address at thestandard.org.nz winds up in my mailbox.)

        Reply
        • Incognito 9.1.1.1
          12 January 2025 at 2:13 pm

          I didn’t think spamming your Inbox would be such a good idea but I do like the dropbox for trolls.

          I had also put Gillian back into probation – I never let them out in the first place because the troll stench was strong from the outset.

          Reply
          • lprent 9.1.1.1.1
            12 January 2025 at 2:53 pm

            I have a pretty complete control on my mail system. Things like that I might scan in email, but if I ignore them they will quietly bump into their own folder after I have ‘read’ them.

            Currently in email, I see all of the comments that go into auto-moderation, all attempts to break in the login system including failed password, password resets, any sustained attacks especially DDOS, networked hacker bots, and any obnoxious net spiders. Plus the contact email goes to me – for problems and for my occasional amusement in replying. Plus I get notifications about code updates and backup issues.

            I have similar setup for about 10 sites that I keep an eye on. Some for my partners clients, some for other non-profits, some for work. Some are just honey-traps.

            Reply
    • lprent 9.2
      12 January 2025 at 1:44 pm

      See moderator note.

      Reply
  10. adam 10
    12 January 2025 at 3:24 pm

    I feel your over egging it Ad. Bidden was and is still a corporate hack, who embraced globalism.

    And the less said about the mess which is Flint, East Palestine or Hurricane Helene the better ah?

    The complete capitulation to the war mongers will define Biden, and with that many children killed by his actions – I think it will stick.

    Reply
    • joe90 10.1
      12 January 2025 at 6:49 pm

      who embraced globalism.

      You've mistaken him for the other bloke.

      /

      American Manufacturing is Making a Comeback. A Second Trump Term Would Send It Packing.

      Takeaways

      • If he wins a second term in office, Donald Trump plans to reverse policies that have revitalized American manufacturing and, in the process, helped create tens of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs and elicit billions in private sector investment.
      • Trump plans to end crucial federal investments in US manufacturing, scrap tax incentives that help US manufacturers compete with China, and make it harder for US manufacturers to obtain loans.
      • For years, foreign competitors have surpassed the US in the manufacturing sector. Policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the CHIPS and Science Act have made it possible for the US to make a comeback, but Trump plans to overturn these laws and send American manufacturing backwards.

      https://www.thirdway.org/memo/american-manufacturing-is-making-a-comeback-a-second-trump-term-would-send-it-packing

      Reply
      • adam 10.1.1
        12 January 2025 at 10:42 pm

        What an odd view of globalism.

        Third way is, and always has been just apologist bullshit – Or how delusional can the center get?

        And the other bloke is an odd mix of isolationist and imperial expansionist

        Reply
        • joe90 10.1.1.1
          13 January 2025 at 1:15 pm

          What an odd view of globalism.

          Not this ((globalism)), this one; the planning, operation, and off-shoring of millions of US manufacturing jobs

          The Biden administration has begun dismantling my view of globalism with policies to hasten the return those jobs to Americans.

          /

          Reply
  11. Jenny 11
    13 January 2025 at 8:26 am

    '

    Stuff.co this morning asks us:

    Trudeau, Biden and Ardern are done. What’s eating the global left?

    By Matthew Knott

    January 12, 2025 •10:08am

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360545500/trudeau-biden-and-ardern-are-done-whats-eating-global-left

    What Matthew Knot gets wrong with this headline, is that it is not the Left that is being 'eaten', it is the Centre

    One commentor approached for this report who describes herself as a "policy nerd", writes of the Centrists:

    …..progressive incrementalism is not cutting it. “They are presenting a technocratic list of small changes that people aren’t yet feeling in their daily life,

    She argues a far more muscular approach to politics is needed, including picking fights on issues such as inheritance taxes and housing affordability. “It’s pretty clear to me that if left or progressive parties want to win they have to stop tinkering with a system that is clearly engineered against the people they are supposed to represent,”

    trudeau-biden-and-ardern-are-done-whats-eating-global-left

    We saw this with the last Labour government. People still hurting from the Covid pandemic were looking for relief. The Left, and many tax experts, proposed a wealth tax to alleviate the economic pain being felt by the majority of the not so wealthy. This Left proposal was torpedoed by Chris Hipkins 'Captain's Call'.

    When it comes to Biden and the Democrats we saw the same thing.

    The biggest revelation in the leaked Hilary Clinton emails. was the enormous effort the Centrists put into undermining Bernie Sanders who was running on a campaign of universal health care paid for with increased taxes on the rich. A policy, that by the way was extremely popular across the board, even to grass roots Republican voters.

    We see the same thing in Australia, a pollster approached for their comment writes of the Centrists:

    …..Albanese has resisted calls to break up the two major supermarket chains while pursuing less dramatic reform, such as changes to the grocery code of conduct.

    Samaras says the left needs to refashion itself as a force for populist disruption rather than as a defender of the status quo. “The left in general has taken its eye off its No 1 priority in the 20th century, which was the economic empowerment of low-income constituencies,” he says.

    trudeau-biden-and-ardern-are-done-whats-eating-global-left

    By refusing to enact more Left political reforms, Far Centre Extremists around the world, are leaving the door open for the Right.

    Fox News Audience Agrees with Bernie

    2,860,562 views Mar 10, 2020

    "Even a Fox News audience agrees that our progressive ideas are not radical. These are the ideas we need to bring to the general election to defeat Trump."

    Reply
    • adam 11.1
      13 January 2025 at 2:17 pm

      Each and every one of those leaders are what is wrong with the left – as they were not left in the part the counts – enacting left wing policy.

      Centerists play acting, with all the right words, but little – to no actions.

      Reply
  12. Tom Hunter 12
    14 January 2025 at 10:23 pm

    Those massive Congressional bills were down to the leadership of Pelosi first and Schumer second. Biden once was capable of such negotiation but not by 2021. But than I'm wasting my breath with somebody who says this:

    but he would surely have done better than the weak and incoherent Harris who took over the Democratic Presidential ticket an led the Democrats to catastrophic loss that will take many terms to repair.

    When Biden argued this the other day I can't think of any Democrat who agreed outside of his close inner circle. After the election Obama's speechwriter and advisor, Jon Favreau, made it clear that internal polling showed Biden losing against Trump worse than Harris.

    As to those bills, blowing extra money into a recovering economy was never a good idea; the "Inflation Reduction Act" was an Orwellian term from the start and the resulting inflation came as no surprise. As to the others, whether it's the CHIPS act not working as planned because of restrictions in what chip makers can do, the infrastructure act not delivering rural broadband internet at all, and a handful of EV chargers compared to the 500,000 forecast, tens of billions have either not even been spent or wasted. That's not entirely down to Biden's Administration but it's not something to boast about.

    I usually enjoy AD's posts, even when I disagree with them, but this reads like a cut-and-paste of Democrat Party talking points that already failed with the American public.

    Biden will be a footnote at best compared to Trump (whether the latter is good or terrible), and will likely end up as one of the worst US Presidents not just in the 20th century but ever.

    Reply
    • SPC 12.1
      16 January 2025 at 11:27 am

      Those massive Congressional bills were down to the leadership of Pelosi first and Schumer second. Biden once was capable of such negotiation but not by 2021.

      They still needed a POTUS to sign them, what about their system of government do you not understand?

      They worked to a plan, their plan.

      US inflation got not higher and went down as fast as most nations of the OECD.

      They needed the economic direction changes made.

      Reply
      • Tom Hunter 12.1.1
        16 January 2025 at 12:59 pm

        …what about their system of government do you not understand?

        I understand that putting your signature on a piece of paper is nothing compared to the arguing and arm-twisting and sheer work that Pelosi would have had to do in the House, with Schumer doing the same in the Senate. Biden was no longer capable of doing that.

        As far as other nation's inflation is concerned it was caused by the same spending blowout stupidities, but that doesn't make the US ones less predictably stupid.

        As to economic directions you're about to find out how insubstantial were the ones the Biden Administration made via all those trillion dollar bills.

        Reply
        • SPC 12.1.1.1
          16 January 2025 at 1:18 pm

          False narrative alert – wasteful spending being the cause of worldwide inflation.

          Nations had differing policies and suffered the same.

          Domestic inflation (too much cheap money) was more manifest in asset values- such as housing price.

          And government spending (normal Keynesian practice while the economy was struggling) had more impact on budget deficits than inflation.

          I guess you imagine that Trump will make a positive difference with tariffs (paid for by Americans) that will hold up interest rates.

          Reply
      • Tom Hunter 12.1.2
        18 January 2025 at 2:53 pm

        …what about their system of government do you not understand?

        More than President Biden it would seem…

        Today I'm affirming what I have long believed and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.

        I wonder if anybody is going to tell him, or was this a deliberate humiliation by his staff as he exits?

        Reply

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