The Quiet President
Biden is Quietly Doing the Job; It's a Good Thing
“May you live in interesting times.” — English expression of ancient Chinese curse (“Better to be a dog living in time of tranquility than a man living in times of chaos.”)
Peaceful and calm times often go unappreciated. That is until some major conflagration interrupts it. And so it goes with Presidents. Which Presidents are revered as the best?— Washington, Lincoln, FDR. You know, successful wartime Presidents. The worst Presidents? They are often the ones that did little to stop growing problems or were so inept/corrupt they either flat out failed or were incompetent to stop them. Peacetime Presidents? They’re usually relegated to the middle as somewhat mediocre, when the actual issue is that they were not tested in the same ways as others. Success and calm breed contempt.
They say the Presidents we choose come election time are the complete opposite of their predecessor. Sometimes we don’t realize how they are different, but over time it really becomes evident.
After the shadiness and corruption of Nixon/Ford, the electorate chose Southern Christian and all around decent guy Jimmy Carter.
After Carter’s failure to control unemployment, inflation, Iran and a host of problems in the late 70s, the people selected the command and stage presence of Ronald Reagan. Reagan was so popular, the carryover took George H.W. Bush to the White House.
After 12 years of old and out of touch conservatives, America chose a couple of energetic Baby Boomers in the Clinton/Gore ticket.
Ten years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the “peace dividend” that Clinton enjoyed and molded, citizens (barely) selected an administration with a much more aggressive foreign policy in George W. Bush.
The chaos of the W. Bush years turned the corner with cool, collected, “No drama” Obama.
The calm of the Obama persona gave way to the extravagant, ostentatious, “drama all the time” Donald J. Trump. Trump was loud and ignorantly tweeted incessantly, and made huge issues out of things that were not issues at all.
When the childlike Trump came up for re-election, he lost to the paternal Joe Biden and the adults were back in charge of Washington again.
So how is Biden doing? He’s doing the job, albeit really quietly. He still makes the appearances and handwaves to the crowd that Presidents are expected to make. However, that is an informal aspect of the job. The actual job he has to do is 1) lead the country by providing direction; 2) work with Congress to get things done and improve the lives of Americans; and 3) appoint people (particularly judges) to courts and agencies that they will still be on after Biden’s term expires.
In that respect, in the first years of his term:
Amidst the greatest epidemic in American history, he sped up and widely distributed vaccines and opened up the economy again.
He passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus, poviding minimum standard of living to many whose livelihoods were in question during and immediately following the pandemic.
Passed an infrastructure bill to help states fund highway, bridge and other public projects.
Completed the pullout of the US from Afghanistan begun under President Trump, bringing America’s longest war to an end.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, he rallied NATO countries, provided military aid to Ukraine and coordinated programs among the European countries impacted.
Increased funding for the IRS and SEC to upgrade internal technology to go after white collar criminals and frauds and hired over 80,000 additional agents.
As of March 29, 2023, the United States Senate has confirmed 119 Article III judges nominated by Biden: one associate justice (the first black female) of the Supreme Court of the United States, 31 judges for the United States courts of appeals and 87 judges for the United States district courts.
Signed an executive order cancelling billions in student loan debt.
Signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which worked to alleviate inflationary pressures, reduce the national deficit, and shift focus to green technologies and intiatives.
He strengthened Obamacare and capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month.
Signed the PACT Act increasing health care for veterans.
Signed numerous executive orders putting restrictions on guns and signed the only gun violence reduction legislation in the past 30 years.
So what Biden has done has not been inconsequential. He’s done a lot! But unlike past presidents who overbroadcast every small action (looking at Trump holding a big event at the White House after finally getting a tax cut passed the GOP House 10 months after he became President), Biden’s actions tend to come and go into the public consciousness pretty quickly.
I’m sure part of it is his age. When he is in public he often does seem old and confused, and WH staff would prefer to use him to promote and trumpet as little as possible. But he is the President, and getting him in front of crowds, rallying the people, loudly trumpeting his accomplishments goes with the job. Those events with Biden are few and far between, and when they do occur they don’t garner a lot of non-local coverage.
Nonetheless, he has done the actual formal JOB of President probably better than anyone since Clinton, maybe even Reagan. And the fact that he has done it as quietly as he has is somewhat of a virtue.
Knowing an adult is in charge, quietly doing a good job, and getting done what he has to is a huge weight off Americans’ shoulders. Trusting that the world won’t fall apart with a tweet or an abberant event is reassuring.
And when the next President comes along, it’ll be interesting to see how they will be the opposite of Biden. Will they be loud? Will they be young? Will they be a woman? Will they want to be on media much more often? Only time will tell. One thing is likely though; they likely won’t be as prolific or as successful in bringing back normalcy as Biden was. In any event, barring some cataclysmic event that changes America forever, Biden seems destined for Presidential mediocrity, which is fine by me.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
President Biden is currently in Ireland this week to commemorate the Good Friday Peace Accords between Ireland and Northern Ireland/UK. Coming from Irish heritage, Biden looks like he is having a fun time this week doing so.
But he’s not the only Irish President; we’ve had several in fact. It may surprise you that Barack Obama has Irish heritage through his mother’s side, traced back to Moneygall, Ireland in the 19th century. While visiting Ireland during his term, the townspeople invited him for a pint, to which Obama made a small visit.
The stop did not go unnoticed. A group calling themselves “Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys” released a song titled, “There’s No One as Irish as Barack O’bama” which is now a popular cover song by Irish singers.
There is also a Barack Obama Plaza rest stop in Ireland, which has become a local tourist attraction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_Plaza
Outstanding Tweet
https://twitter.com/ricwe123/status/1646482271375962112?s=20
Footnotes and Parting Thoughts
Let me know what you think of the page. Please share and comment!