r/tuesday • u/CheapRelation9695 Right Visitor • Dec 04 '24

Joe Biden’s Legacy of Failure

https://thedispatch.com/article/joe-bidens-legacy-failure/

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u/CheapRelation9695 Right Visitor Dec 04 '24

When Joe Biden took his oath of office in January 2021, he outlined a bold vision for his presidency. “Together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear,” he said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol which, just days before, had been swarmed by protesters rioting in the name of Donald Trump. “May this be the story that guides us, the story that inspires us, and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.”

Nearly four years later, Biden’s single term is limping to an end, with the president—dogged by concerns about his age and mental acuity that eventually forced him to end his reelection bid—more unpopular than he’s ever been, increasingly out of view, and widely considered the primary culprit in Democrats’ post-election autopsies. His recent decision to issue a sweeping pardon to his son Hunter—after repeatedly pledging not to do so—led several prominent Democrats and media allies to accuse him of selfishness and putting “personal interest ahead of duty” in a way that will “tarnish his reputation.”

There are plenty of specific examples of Biden’s failures, to be sure. Persistent inflation made worse by excessive federal spending that even some Democratic economists warned would overheat the economy. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, pushed through despite the admonitions from top military leaders. A lack of urgency about illegal immigration. His disinterest in even trying to unify a divided country. His decision—after implying in 2020 he’d be a “bridge” candidate—to launch a quixotic reelection bid when his advanced age and mental decline were all too apparent in private and in public.

But even setting all that aside, Biden’s presidency has been an unmitigated disaster on its own terms: His entire raison d’être was to keep Trump—and Trumpism—from returning to the Oval Office. “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” the president told donors a year ago this week. “We cannot let him win.”

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u/Longjumping_Gain_807 Left Visitor Dec 05 '24

Well I mean he did try to do some of the things his campaign said they would. The American rescue plan helped me in the early started of being in college during the pandemic. He also tried to cancel student loans but got shot down by SCOTUS which was not his fault. I mean he could’ve tried harder after that but his other plan got struck down in the circuit too. Now people who misunderstood Trump v US are calling for him to do shit that he can’t do

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u/IndubitablyThoust Right Visitor Dec 06 '24

Its good that the SCOTUS shot down some attempts at that stupid student loans cancelation thing. It was nothing more than economic populism. Bribing the public with someone else's money.