Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531497
10 OPINION maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 JANUARY 2025 On 20 January, when his term in the Oval Office comes to an end, Joe Biden joins Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush on the list of single-term presidents in the modern era THE Biden administration comes to an end on January 20. Joe Biden joins Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush on the list of single-term presidents in the modern era. So, how will the Biden presidency be remembered? His average job approval rat- ing of 42% across his term sug- gests he would be ranked well below average by the US pub- lic right now. He was rated at 39% in December – exactly the same as his predecessor Donald Trump's rating just before he left office. But in many ways, Biden's rat- ing is a better representation of the political schism in the US, rather than an unbiased assess- ment of his performance in the office. So, what did he get right? 1. Managing the COVID crisis Biden came into office at the start of the second wave of COVID. His administration's handling of the crisis and the advice given to the public was in stark contrast to the chaos of the Trump administration. Although experts have sug- gested the Biden White House failed to rebuild trust between the US public and the presiden- cy on this issue, it managed to articulate a clear, logical plan to deal with COVID and, for the most part, implement a vaccine rollout that was effective, recti- fying previous supply problems with sourcing vaccines. And the polls seemed to agree, with nearly half (47.8%) of Ameri- cans approving of Biden's COV- ID strategy – although this was skewed by party lines (80.9% of Democrats against only 18.6% of Republicans). 2. Supporting Ukraine Biden's continued and unwa- vering support for Ukraine has been met with fierce opposition from Maga Republicans in Con- gress ever since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Efforts at providing substantial support were delayed by the speaker, Mike Johnson, when the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm However, polls from August of last year suggest that not only are the majority of Americans more sympathetic to Ukraine than Russia, but more Americans want to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes. US support has been critical to Ukraine's effort to repel the Rus- sian invasion, and has inspired Nato allies to do the same. 3. Affordable healthcare Biden has managed to dou- ble the number of Americans who have access to affordable healthcare. The administra- tion recently announced that almost 25 million Americans have signed up during the 2025 open enrolment period, com- pared with the 12 million who signed up during the last year of the Trump administration. As part of the 2021 America Rescue Plan, Democrats were able to increase tax credits for those who qualified for assis- tance and also capped health insurance premiums. Howev- er, the future of the healthcare plan, introduced by President Obama, will be up for debate in Congress in 2025. Trump has been a long-term critic of the Obamacare initiative, which aimed to make health insur- ance more affordable. 4. Economic improvements The administration's eco- nomic performance exceeded many forecasters' expectations, especially in job creation. Bid- en will be the first president under whom jobs were created during every month they were in office. The economy created 2.23 million jobs in the final year of Biden's term. Although it was just 12,000 jobs in October, the statistics for the remainder of his term are impressive. This has been driven by significant moves such as the 2021 Biparti- san Infrastructure Deal, which instigated significant federal investment in national infra- structure, and the Chips and Science Act, which saw signifi- cant investment in the building of microprocessor chip plants. So, why didn't Biden get re-elected if he got all of these things right? The Democrats have been criticised for not communicat- ing these successes effectively. But more importantly, Biden underperformed significantly in other economic areas. These were: 1. Not lowering inflation As much as Biden got right, the administration failed to solve the inflation crisis. It av- eraged 5.4% per year during his time in the White House, and made him an easy target for Trump to criticise during the 2024 election. Inflation was identified by 41% of Americans polled in May 2024 as their most important financial wor- ry. 2. Chaotically pulling out of Afghanistan The US's withdrawal from Afghanistan was decided dur- ing the Trump administration, but the surprise evacuation in August 2021 under Biden was chaotic and left allies in the lurch. Although the majori- ty of Americans (54% of those polled) agreed with leaving Af- ghanistan, 69% said Biden did a poor job in handling the depar- ture. UK defence chiefs stated Joe Biden's legacy: four successes and four failures Dafydd Townley is Teaching Fellow in International Security, University of Portsmouth Dafydd Townley