Joe Biden’s Presidency: A Reign of Promise and Action

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When US President Joe Biden first took office in January 2021, he immediately began implementing new policies aimed at tackling some of the country’s biggest concerns, including COVID-19, diversity and equity, and the environment. 

As one of his first actions as president, Biden released a national strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. According to NPR, US doctors praised the 200-page document for being “encouraging” and “well-constructed.” At the time, the White House believed that COVID-19 cases and deaths were hitting all-time highs and that doses of the newly launched vaccines were scarce. In response, Biden promised to restore public trust, vaccinate Americans, and take measures to minimize the spread of the virus.

According to NPR, Dr. George Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, Biden’s efforts “started off really well. The challenge is that this virus continues to throw us curves.” 

Additionally, the Biden Administration released a follow-up to its original national strategy in September 2021, titled “Path Out of the Pandemic: President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan.” The 11-page document outlined the President’s six key measures for combating COVID-19, including increasing vaccination rates, keeping schools safely open, protecting the country’s economic recovery, and taking measures to bolster masks mandates. 

According to NBC News, the Administration delivered 200 million vaccine shots in its first 100 days. At one point, 4 million Americans were getting vaccinated each day, according to The Guardian.

However, the Biden Administration could not have predicted the inflation during the pandemic, which rose to a record high of 9.1 per cent in 2022, according to Statista. “It's having a suppressing effect on the economy, there's no doubt about it. ... COVID is a giant wet blanket across the country,” said James Carville, an American political consultant and author, according to NPR. 

Additionally, President Biden signed multiple executive orders on his first day in office, including an Executive Order titled “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government.” The order focussed heavily on the consequences of systemic racism, continuous poverty, and other discrepancies, which prompted the federal government to initiate a large-scale plan to build a more upright union. 

The second executive order on equity signed by the President directed the federal government to add equity initiatives to government, businesses, and workplaces. This meant including different communities and groups, such as the LGBTQIA+ community and people with disabilities.

Another large-scale issue the Biden administration focussed on was tackling environmental issues and climate change. On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order that brought the US back into the Paris Agreement — a legally binding international treaty that aims to limit climate change and its effects. This action positioned the US to once again be involved with the global climate solution and served as one of the key parts in Biden’s elaborate and ambitious climate agenda, which ranged from addressing the clean energy sector to ensuring environmental justice. President Donald Trump has since withdrawn the US from the agreement. 

In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act, a major climate bill passed by Democrats in Congress, was drafted by the Biden Administration. According to The Guardian, the legislation created nearly 150,000 new clean energy jobs, marking a 4.5 per cent increase in jobs in the sector in 2023. By 2024, nearly 3.5 million were employed in the US clean energy sector.

A few months prior to the 2024 US election, President Biden implemented more regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Congress passed a new regulation that forced coal-fired power plants to contain smokestack emissions. The new regulation was among more than 60 rules that the Biden’s administration finalized in the last few months of his Presidency. The regulations, which were implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency, among other federal agencies, contributed to Biden’s goal of cutting carbon emissions roughly in-half by 2030.