.... Harvard University economist Jason Furman, a top aide during the Obama administration, said Biden “came into office when the economy was in the throes of COVID and helped to oversee the transition out of it to an economy that is now growing faster than any of its peer economies, with less inflation than they have.”
Furman noted that Biden increased spending to make longer-term investments in the economy while keeping Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chairman, giving the Fed cover to hike rates and bring down inflation without disrupting the labor market.
In March 2021, Biden launched $1.9 trillion in pandemic aid, creating a series of new programs that temporarily halved child poverty, halted evictions and contributed to the addition of 15.7 million jobs. But inflation began to rise shortly thereafter. Biden’s approval rating as measured by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research fell from 61% to 39% as of June.
He followed up with a series of executive actions to unsnarl global supply chains and a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that not only replaced aging infrastructure but improved internet access and prepared communities to withstand climate change.
But the infrastructure bill also revealed the challenge Biden faced in getting the public to recognize his achievement because many of the projects will take decades to complete.
Image FILE - President Joe Biden speaks about manufacturing jobs and the economy at SK Siltron CSS, a computer chip factory in Bay City, Mich., Nov. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
In 2022, Biden and his fellow Democrats followed up with two measures that reinvigorated the future of U.S. manufacturing.
The CHIPS and Science Act provided $52 billion to build factories and create institutions to make computer chips domestically, ensuring that the U.S. would have access to the most advanced semiconductors needed to power economic growth and maintain national security. There was also the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided incentives to shift away from fossil fuels and enabled Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Biden also sought to compete more aggressively with China and rebuild alliances such as NATO. He completed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. service members, an effort that was widely criticized. The president also faced criticism over his handling of the southern border with Mexico as illegal border crossings led to concerns about his handling of immigration
He also found himself embroiled in a series of global conflicts that exposed further domestic divisions.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 worsened inflation as Trump and other Republicans questioned the value of military aid to the Ukrainians. Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel sparked a war that showed divisions within the Democratic party over whether the United States should continue to support Israel as tens of thousands of Palestinians died in months of counterattacks.
Image FILE - President Joe Biden walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral on a surprise visit, Feb. 20, 2023, in Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
Image FILE - Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks at U.S Vice President Joe Biden as he signs the guest book at the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Biden privately lectured aides to focus not on differences when listening to the public but to search for agreement. He hewed to the ideal of bipartisanship even when Democrats broke with the GOP.
And yet, just days before he dropped out of the race, Biden felt that his work was not done and his legacy incomplete.
“I’ve got to finish this job,” he told reporters after a NATO summit.
But the size of the stakes and the fear of a Biden loss resulted in a bet by Democrats that the tasks he began could best be completed by a younger generation.
“History will be kinder to him than voters were at the end,” Axelrod said.
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