Joe Biden Was A Good President
Many people have forgotten that Biden inherited a nation in crisis from Trump. There was an out of control pandemic, 10 million Americans had lost their jobs, 12 million Americans lost insurance, 8 million Americans fell into poverty and the annual deficit increased from $585 billion to $3.1 trillion.
When Trump “left office, the murder rate was higher, drug overdose deaths had increased, and the abortion rate had gone up for the first time in decades. America was more bitterly divided, and deficits increased each year of his presidency. His early Covid lies helped fuel an immense amount of confusion and almost certainly cost American lives. And his entire sorry term was capped by a violent insurrection fueled by an avalanche of lies.” David French.
By many measures, we were much better off in January 2025 than we were before Biden took office. America experienced a historic recovery during the Biden Administration.
Biden ended the pandemic. When he took office, there was no plan to distribute the life saving vaccines. The American Rescue Act of 2021 funded the distribution of the vaccines. Every Republican voted no.
New jobs were created every month. This was a first.
34 straight months of unemployment rate at or below 4.1 %.
Wages up 4.1% over the past year, faster than 2.7% inflation.
The lowest unemployment rate of any outgoing president since Lyndon Johnson in 1969.
16.6 million jobs created under Biden administration.
For reference, average job growth was around 170,000 per month in 2019. Trump claimed that was the greatest economy ever. In contrast, job growth during the Biden Administration was around 250,000 per month. However, Trump’s first term didn’t end in early 2020 — Trump lost 10 million jobs in 2020.
The prime age labor force participation rate was at its highest level in over 20 years.
The S&P 500 was up over 55% during the four years of the Biden Administration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased more than 39% over the same period, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP jumped nearly 46%.
On October 31, 2024, the GOP aligned Wall Street Journal featured an article said that the next president inherited a “remarkable economy.” Here are the pertinent excerpts:
“Whoever wins the White House next week will take office with no shortage of challenges, but at least one huge asset: an economy that is putting its peers to shame.
With another solid performance in the third quarter, the U.S. has grown 2.7% over the past year. It is outrunning every other major developed economy, not to mention its own historical growth rate
More impressive than the rate of growth is its quality. This growth didn’t come solely from using up finite supplies of labor and other resources, which could fuel inflation. Instead, it came from making people and businesses more productive.
This combination, if sustained, will be a wind at the back of the next president. Three of the past four newcomers to the White House took office in or around a recession (the exception was Donald Trump, in 2017), which consumed much of their first-term agenda. The next president should be free of that burden.”
Biden was the most legislatively successful president since Lyndon Johnson. He passed the American Rescue Act, the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Act, expanded veteran’s benefits, the Micro Chips Act , the Inflation Reduction Act, marriage equality and gun safety legislation. He passed most of these bills with bi-partisan support.
In the area of foreign policy, Biden has rallied the world to save Ukraine and has expanded NATO. Similarly, Biden organized an international coalition to protect Israel from an Iranian missile attack. He was one of the best foreign policy presidents in the post World War II era.
As we all know, Trump and the GOP narrowly won the election. Approximately 12 million voters who supported Biden in 2020 didn’t vote for Harris. Sometimes, members of our base can be fickle and demand perfection. Republicans win when Democrats stay home.
The result of that decision by millions of Democrats not to vote has been disastrous. Trump is attempting to transform himself into a quasi-dictator and his erratic policies are pushing the economy into a recession. Any Democrat is better than Trump or any other MAGA Republican. It’s not even a question.
“Once you build a house you always have it. On the other hand, a social or an economic gain is a different matter. A social or an economic gain made by one Administration, for instance, may, and often does, evaporate into thin air under the next Administration.” Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.
We have a historic fight on our hands. We need to resist Trump and the MAGA Republicans at every turn. Democrats need to make any Trump win costly and time consuming. Obstruction works. Just ask Mitch McConnell.
Our comeback begins with the city elections in Lincoln and Omaha. I would recommend that you contribute your time and money to some campaigns. A victory this year will lay the foundation for a big win in 2026. I expect a blue wave. Now let’s get it done!
P.S. — You’re going to want to save this post for when Trump and his propaganda machine try to rewrite history.
Sources consulted:
https://archive.ph/FDI6d#selection-5961.0-5969.110
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/19/economy/us-biden-economic-legacy/index.html
