Why Joe Biden is a uniquely failed president
A reflection on the last day of the Biden administration
There are various ways to judge a president, many being highly subjective. What makes a president good or bad can be a partisan endeavor. Historians and political scientists undertake the challenge of cutting through these complexities and identifying a non-partisan, generally objective, and uniform way to assess a given president. One effective means for judging a president is by assessing their goals v. their achievements. Joe Biden is a uniquely failed president because few crystallize this as clearly and on as narrow a goal as he did: stop Donald Trump.
When Joe Biden announced his (third) bid for President in 2019, he said, “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation—who we are —and I cannot stand by and watch that happen." Not only did he stand by and watch it happen, he aided and abetted it.
Throughout his campaign and remaining a central narrative during his presidency, Biden made clear that stopping Trump and the MAGA movement was his priority. Using the phrase, “returning the sole of America” Biden tried to represent an idealized alternative to Make America Great Again. Instead, as Biden hands back the keys to the White House to Trump, the 45th/47th president returns and more powerful than ever.
Through 2023 Biden cited Charlottesville 2017 as his inspiration to run. Fired up over the renaming of a “Robert E. Lee Park” in Charlottesville South Carolina, bands of protesters clashed with deadly results. Many neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups joined broadly right-wing individuals to rally against broadly left-wing counter-protesters. In reaction to the unfolding events wrought with racial and cultural tension, President Trump said, “You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides…and you had people — and I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the White nationalists, because they should be condemned totally — but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists.” While Trump certainly supported retaining the Lee namesake, Biden took Trump’s words out of context, claiming he said that white supremacists and neo-Nazis were “fine people.” It was with this false pretense that Biden launched his “battle for the soul of the nation.”
I believe Trump is and represents a destructive force for democracy. I point to Biden’s false characterization not to devalue this point, but rather to demonstrate how Biden and others discredit themselves by purposely misrepresenting something that Trump believes or has said. Trump and Republicans do this too, and to a more pernicious degree, but why should progressives stoop so low? What Trump and others say stands on its own. Trump represents a threat to democracy. Lying about him only discredits this message, in itself threatening democracy.
During the first Trump administration hateful rhetoric increased. Civic dialogue and democratic norms eroded, and national upheaval, caused by the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement, demonstrated Trump's failed leadership. After losing the election, he refused to accept defeat, inspiring and failing to quell a deadly riot at the Capitol. Following this, Trump’s approval tanked, hitting its lowest point ever, 38.6%. In the days directly following January 6, 54% of Americans said Trump should be immediately removed from office. Though divided over how much, even a majority of Republicans believed Trump bore some responsibility for the attack. Democrats were high rollers. Biden had a 54% approval rating, which he maintained for the first few months of his presidency.
Having been removed by the tech executives who now clammer for his attention, being widely rejected by the American people, facing numerous criminal investigations, and a post-presidential impeachment, Trump was a washout. Despite all of this, by way of President Biden’s ineptitude, Trump not only stormed back to office but with both chambers of Congress and a robust national mandate. In 2016, liberals could cope that Trump was a fluke. Clinton was unusually unpopular. There were questions about outside influence. He lost the popular vote. In 2024, thanks to Biden, the MAGA movement is solidified and with little doubt.
Biden wasn’t a complete failure. He led many successful actions: The American Rescue Plan, The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act, The Inflation Reduction Act, the Gun Safety Law. And as a bonus, they were passed with relatively bipartisan support. Inflation was out of his control, foreign policy crises weren’t all his fault. He stood with unions, supported pro-middle class legislation, and pushed the nation in a more progressive direction. Where then did the 82-year-old president go wrong? His character and ability. Age and selfishness got in the way. Biden simply did not have the capacity to: 1) Communicate his success and control the narrative. 2) Motivate other Democrats. 3) Give up power. In these three leadership failures, Biden served not only as a bridge from the Trump administration but to a new Trump administration.
To be successful, leaders must not only have a strong record, but a strong ability to communicate that record. Policy success is great, and Biden had a lot of it, but it is not what 81 million Americans voted for him to do. They wanted him to return America to normalcy after four years of Trumpism. What Biden couldn’t do was communicate and control, motivate, and to the most detriment, give up.
Communicate and control. In just four years President Biden withdrew the United States from a decades-long conflict that drained resources for Americans; he lowered drug costs, boosted U.S. manufacturing to rival China, and invested in infrastructure to make America the strongest and most innovative country in the world. Yes, the economy was bad, but President Biden fought every day to lower prices and keep America moving. This message could have won. It aligns with a lot of the rhetoric defining the MAGA movement. America first. Pro-worker. Broadly anti-interventionist. Biden’s legislation and his executive actions could have been effectively messaged to a working-class, independent audience, and leveraged against the actions of the previous Trump administration. Instead, Biden let go of the narrative, allowing Trump and other Republicans define him. As Americans felt the economy tanking (regardless of what the statistics said), Biden took credit, labeling it “Bidenonmics.” Instead of acknowledging that things were hard for everyday Americans, he acted as if everything was great. He claimed the economy was his making, without considering the reality that Americans were disappointed. When prices soared and Americans were hurting, he was on the defense, arguing why they weren’t…but they were. He got steamrolled for Afghanistan, a mission that Trump started and had been supported by most Americans for years. Why Biden didn’t communicate this is clear: He couldn’t. His age and decline prevented him from crisscrossing the country (as Trump did,) holding interviews, engaging with everyday Americans, and effectively leading the diverse Democratic coalition.
Motivate. His decline not only prevented him from communicating his success, but it deflated the Democratic Party. Without an inspiring or clear offensive message, Democrats were flatfooted to Republicans. When Biden was unable to communicate effectively, others simply didn’t want to. Democrats were labeled the ‘bad guys,’ and through the defense of “Bidenomics,” the man on top accepted that framing. No one could repeat the arguments coming from The White House, because they knew their constituents were hurting. Biden’s strategy pushed people away. Democrats were depressed being led by a man in decline. Everyone knew their bubble would burst, because like bubbles that's what coverups and scandals do. They just hoped it would be after the election.
Give up power. In addition to promising to be a bridge from the Trump administration, Biden had secured the Democratic nomination in 2020 by promising to be a bride to a new generation. In maneuvering a victory, Biden slyly suggested he would be a one-term president, nominated only to beat Trump. He articulated no unique policy message. His redeeming qualities centered around his experience and the good chance it gave him of victory. Biden selfishly refused to give up power to a new generation of Democrats. In the four years Biden was president Democrats could have jockeyed and organized a clear and popular message to counter MAGA. They could have tested messaging, identified a strong leader, and unified within the safety and comfort of a Democratic administration. Now, this will have to happen in the shadow of Trump. Democrats have no room to try anything new. There is no Democratic leader. The party is the most divided that it’s been in decades. This isn’t only Biden’s fault, Democrats stood with him every step of the way, until it was too late. When Biden announced his bid for a second term, a primary could have tested Biden and others. Regardless of what the party establishment wanted to say, Biden was deeply unpopular. Democrats craved a new candidate but instead were told to keep their head down and support Biden’s undemocratic renomination. It was clear Biden was in decline, and even if he wasn’t he was so broadly unpopular that he should not have been the Democratic nominee. Biden refused to give up power, and in doing so gave up to Trump.
Despite being a successful president, Biden refused to return on his only promise. For this, he is a failure. He was elected to end the Trump era, and instead, he strengthened it. As history will judge the Trump era and its effect on the nation, Biden should be seen as centrally responsible.
A cheeky political cartoon I made on January 12, 2021, seems more relevant today than it was then. In it, then President-elect Biden asks 15th President James Buchanan, who infamously stood by as the South withdrew from the union, for advice on how to unite the country. In the background of the two men is the Capitol, burning from the chaos of January 6th. Reflecting four years later, just as Buchanan refused to keep the union together, Biden refused to keep it from Trump. Buchanan who usually ranks last in presidential rankings, should soon be joined by Biden. Today, all we can hope is that the effects of 2024 are better than that of 1860.
Joe Biden is a uniquely failed president because he made one promise, and failed to keep it.
