The Legacy of Joe Biden

[88Commanders00]

11 days left of President Biden. Not much left for him to do. He just gave eulogy at Carter’s funeral.

What will be the legacy of Joe Biden?

[88Commanders00]

Currently historians rate him 14th.

He did pass some good legislation and if they don’t get reversed by Trump; history will look kindly upon him, even if the voters right now don’t.

Thing is, his legacy is hurt because his presidency couldn’t prevent his predecessor from returning to power and of course if his legislation is reversed; then he will be viewed as nothing more than a blip. A momentary respite from the Trump presidencies; largely due to Covid.

[ixcuincle]

Said repeatedly on ES but nobody wanted to listen that he wasn't that good.

B- for me and that was only because of his Russia deal that freed Paul Whelan and Evan Gersowitz.

- Horrific foreign policy with the exception of Ukraine. Withdrew from Afghanistan haphazardly and his stances on Israel - Gaza war were so unpopular that it might have cost him the election because of the masses of Muslims who boycotted him

- Horrific selection of Merrick Garland as AG who did not prosecute Trump and made no effort to do so until 2 years after 1/6 which is inexcusable.

- Hampered by partisan bickering and most of his legislation was blocked by Congress or courts (see student debt relief)

The one good thing I can think about that he did was rebuild the economy after COVID, although to what extent it's been built to can be argued repeatedly. The best thing he did was consumer protections to reveal junk fees and resort fees. Otherwise I can't think of much good he has done. History will remember him as a lame duck president who had good intentions at heart but was hampered by partisanship and a movement which he failed to quash.

[PeterMP]

I don't think history is going to look at Biden very favorably. At best, he's a nice/good guy that was pretty ineffective. But then you take into account that he's declining mental abilities, lack of ability to communicate effectively, and not stepping aside earlier contributed to Trump winning.

[PeterMP]

- Horrific foreign policy with the exception of Ukraine. Withdrew from Afghanistan haphazardly

I think I pretty much have the opposite opinion here. I think with Afghanistan it is hard to have a "good" withdraw from a war that you are losing. I don't think the withdraw was haphazard. It just isn't very feasible to move the number of people and the amount of equipment that needed to be moved in the time frame given the conditions in a way that is smooth. I give him a lot of credit for finally pulling the plug. He could have easily gone back on the deal and kicked the can down the road until a 2nd term or the next person. (which is what Trump did).

Vs. Ukraine, I think they weren't nearly aggressive early enough in terms of supplying weapons to Ukraine, penalties to Russia, and even our allies (e.g. European countries paying for natural gas from Russia).

I'll acknowledge that it is possible that his approach has worked and was necessary so that Russia didn't broaden the conflict or done something like use nuclear weapons. But early on, I was calling for us to be more aggressive, and I still think that would have worked.

[ixcuincle]

- Horrific foreign policy with the exception of Ukraine. Withdrew from Afghanistan haphazardly

I think I pretty much have the opposite opinion here. I think with Afghanistan it is hard to have a "good" withdraw from a war that you are losing. I don't think the withdraw was haphazard. It just isn't very feasible to move the number of people and the amount of equipment that needed to be moved in the time frame given the conditions in a way that is smooth. I give him a lot of credit for finally pulling the plug. He could have easily gone back on the deal and kicked the can down the road until a 2nd term or the next person. (which is what Trump did).

Vs. Ukraine, I think they weren't nearly aggressive early enough in terms of supplying weapons to Ukraine, penalties to Russia, and even our allies (e.g. European countries paying for natural gas from Russia).

I'll acknowledge that it is possible that his approach has worked and was necessary so that Russia didn't broaden the conflict or done something like use nuclear weapons. But early on, I was calling for us to be more aggressive, and I still think that would have worked.

Afghanistan was a haphazard withdrawal but what will haunt him forever is the handling of Israel - Gaza where he waffled between both sides and continued to arm Israel with funding and weapons which angered Palestinian supporters in the US. When they refused to show up in droves, called him "Genocide Joe", and didn't vote, it was the edge Trump needed to win the popular vote and electoral college.

[Corcaigh]

Many major accomplishments such as the massive infrastructure bill and the Chips & Sciences act. Some good moves related to climate change. Significant consumer protection stuff. The end of WEP/GPO which impacts millions of teacher and other state employees pensions.

Avoided a recession that EVERYONE knew was coming as a certainty. Got employment down and kept it down. Got inflation under control while maintaining economic growth. Broad stock market up 60% over his term.

Of course he’s not directly responsible for all of this.

One thing he failed over, and played into the GOP culture war narrative, was attempted changes to Title IX.

But perception of Biden won’t be good. He’ll be remembered as a nice guy who was too old and in decline at the end and handed the presidency to Trump. We’ll know quite how bad that turns out in a few years.

The lack of action by Garland is a stain but given how partisan the GOP was willing to be I don’t know if anything would have actually happened. GOP leadership at all levels knows Trump is unfit and said as much many times, but punted to the electorate and got their win.

[SWIM]

I don't think history is going to look at Biden very favorably. At best, he's a nice/good guy that was pretty ineffective. But then you take into account that he's declining mental abilities, lack of ability to communicate effectively, and not stepping aside earlier contributed to Trump winning.

I thinking he will go down in history as a modern day Filmore. Honestly he had opportunities to lock down his legacy as a defender of democracy but he let that slip trough his hands because of indecisiveness.

[ixcuincle]

he had a solid cabinet

[ixcuincle]

bidens last days pardoning his son and other people show he dgaf about his legacy.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a ... poll-finds