‘Minor president’: Biden battles to build legacy as historians downgrade his greatness
Biden, for better or worse will be remembered as the turkey that Donald Trump sandwiched between his two slices of bread.
The claims that Mr. Trump made about his foreign policy and spending achievements will always be second to the ascension of Mr. Trump, which seemed to end Mr. Trump’s career. And ultimately, Mr. Trump’s surrender to a more powerful Mr. Trump, four years later, is what matters.
Justin Vaughn is a political science at Coastal Carolina University and co-director of the Presidential Greatness Project. He said that Biden was likely to be viewed as a minor president.
Only six months ago, many media commentators and the Democratic Party hailed Biden for delivering a robust economic, rebuilding international alliances, and channeling trillions of dollars from taxpayers into climate change, state and local government, and infrastructure.
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California’s House Speaker, who was instrumental in achieving these legislative victories, stated this summer that Mr. Biden is “a Mount Rushmore type of president.”
Many Democrats who once congratulated Mr. Biden for withdrawing from the presidential race last July, now claim that he has ruined his legacy. He left the nomination to a wounded Kamala Harris, and the Republican Party won Congress.
Biden’s legacy has been even more disastrous for Republicans and independents. Biden’s legacy is even worse for Republicans and many independents.
Mr. Biden will be attempting to recalibrate the legacy he has left with a series of events that will tell Americans what he believes he did right. The highlight will be the farewell speech from the Oval Office, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
He must overcome a large deficit.
Gallup, a venerable company that conducts polls, reported that a majority expects history to judge Mr. Biden a “below-average” or “poor” President. Around a quarter of Americans see him as being “average,” while less than 20% think he is “above average,” or “outstanding.”
Gallup says that this gives him a net overall rating of -35. This is roughly on par with Richard Nixon as the worst president of recent times.
This is worse than the -32% rating that Mr. Trump received in the same survey when he left his office four years earlier. Gallup reported that the president-elect has improved his standing to a -4.
Biden is not viewed as a good or great president by most Republicans, but the changing opinions of Democrats, based on the results of recent elections, are bringing him down.
Franklin Foer is a biographer of Biden and a writer for The Atlantic. He said that the loss suffered by Mr. Trump was “his legacy.”
After the November elections, Mr. Foer wrote: “Everything else is a asterisk.”
Juan Williams, historian and political analyst said that his liberal colleagues are undervaluing Mr. Biden’s achievements in economics and foreign policy.
Williams wrote, “The scruffy kid from Scranton has made America a more tolerant place.” The Americans may long for the Biden era. He or his capable Vice President may be asked to return and save the country once again.
Gallup says that these arguments don’t resonate.
The 18 yardsticks included immigration, crime and race relations, as well as the economy, terrorism, and the U.S.’s standing in the world. Americans claimed that the U.S. has lost ground in the last four years, except for one measure: the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals.
Mr. Biden believes that history will be better to him than what he has experienced.
In December, he told employees of the Labor Department that it was “frustrating”, not to receive credit for his achievements. He said, “There’s a lot going on but it will take some time.”
Mr. Biden was on a sugar rush when he entered the White House after ushered Mr. Trump out of what appeared to be a final retirement from politics. His honeymoon lasted into the summer of 2021 with a net positive approval rating of 5 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls.
His troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster. RealClearPolitics reported that his approval rating fell to negative territory on August 23, 2021 and has not touched positive territory ever since.
Even a year earlier, historians had a positive view of Mr. Biden.
The Presidential Greatness Project (an annual survey of presidential historians) ranked him at number 14 out of the 335 presidents. The Presidential Greatness Project ranked him at No. 14, just ahead of Ronald Reagan, Woodrow Wilson, and Bill Clinton.
President Obama was ranked seven, while President Trump came in dead last.
Mr. Vaughn who runs this survey along with a co-worker, believes Mr. Biden will take a hit.
In an email, Mr. Vaughn stated that “Since our Presidential Greatness Survey where Biden was ranked 14th occurred, several key events likely to impact his presidential legacy have transpired. Most notably, his disastrous debate performance, and his subsequent forced withdrawal from the race,” he said. Trump’s victory, the pardoning of his son Hunter and his almost invisible presidency in the last year of the administration will all negatively affect his reputation.
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