Although it may be tempting to reduce your approval of a president to their political party, it’s far more important to look impartially at what this person plans to do. It’s important to also notice historical capability and what they have already done in office.
It’s about time to begin looking past black and white — or alternatively, blue and red labels. News of President Biden’s successes have been downplayed since he has been in office. It’s important to look at facts and statistics here rather than diverse political opinions.
First of all are unemployment rates. Obama was inaugurated as president in January 2009. The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics shows that unemployment, as of December for each year, was at 7.3% in 2008, and moved up to 9.9% by December 2009. This was, of course, during one of the most recent large-scale recessions before COVID-19. Trump was then inaugurated in January 2017. By December of 2016, unemployment rates were down to 4.7%, and by that time next year, they had fallen further to 4.1%. Biden was then inaugurated in January 2021, overseeing the December 2020 unemployment rates of 6.7% down to 3.9% at the end of his first year.For a side by side comparison, that is +2.6%, -0.6%, and -2.8% change in each president’s first year.
Biden has not been stagnant during his first year as president. 77 executive orders have been signed in 2021, including 25 in his first 12 days in office. He implemented one of the largest economic relief measures in U.S. history, distributing $1,400 to eligible Americans through a $1.9 trillion plan. Pushing vaccinations, his administration oversaw efforts that came to over 60% of the population fully vaccinated as of the end of this January. This number includes the younger populations who became eligible for the vaccine only recently, as well as those who are not yet eligible.
Biden’s administration has also been working hard to introduce diversity in his administration and court. Aside from the most obvious example, Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the first female vice president in our country’s history, there was a notable increased diversity in nominated and sworn in judges. He has had over 40 new federal judges sworn in, and almost 75% of his nominees have been women. To be clear, approximately 27% of federal judges were female in 2019, while the population of the United States is 50.8% female. Trump’s nominations included about 1 in 4 women. There is also the difference between Biden’s nearly 65% people of color and Trump’s 17%. Only 60% of the United States population is white, for reference.
This does not cover everything that his administration has accomplished, and admittedly does not cover a few downfalls of the presidency so far. However, it should be noted that his accomplishments have been incredibly downplayed, and should be, at the very least, known.
