NEW YORK (Gray Media) – With Donald Trump’s inauguration day on the horizon, President Joe Biden spent his final week reflecting on four years in office.
Four years ago, President Joe Biden took the oath of office pledging to dig the nation out of a time of darkness. His inauguration was clouded by a once in a century pandemic and a predecessor trying to cling to power, the 46th president’s entire term a constant test of crisis management.
His first project was overseeing the rollout of a COVID vaccine developed at a historic pace, getting millions of shots in arms to protect against a raging virus. The president also signed off on the American Rescue Plan, a massive 1.9 trillion dollar economic stimulus package to help the economy recover.
The long-term consequences beleaguered the president his entire time in office with a historic period of inflation that saw prices skyrocket, mortgage rates elevate, and a country staring down an uncertain economic future. But the administration, with the help of the federal reserve, saw inflation ease while adding millions of jobs to the economy and bringing the unemployment rate to its lowest point in decades.
The president also signed into law a bipartisan infrastructure bill that would fund thousands of projects around the country while creating jobs. Then came the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive piece of legislation promoting green energy projects, lowering prescription drug prices, and trying to tackle the budget deficit.
He also oversaw the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill promoting science and technology research with an emphasis on manufacturing semiconductors to diminish reliance on China.
Competition with the Chinese a constant theme throughout Biden’s term, testing his foreign policy chops after pledging to strengthen our alliances and stand strong against our foes. NATO an alliance in the spotlight in 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By the end of his term, NATO remained unified, while adding more nations to the defense treaty.
In 2021, the president’s plan to withdraw from Afghanistan lead to the death of 13 US service members, a flawed exit that plagued his administration despite living up to his pledge to get the US out of the 20-year war.
In October 2023, there was more bloodshed in the Middle East when the terror group Hamas killed thousands of Israelis, leading to more than a year of retaliation in the Gaza strip. The administration’s negotiations in the conflict a tightrope walk garnering criticism across the political spectrum until ushering in a peace deal during the last week of his term.
At home, the president saw high levels of illegal immigration stretch resources at the border, a main point of criticism for Republicans as Biden sought reelection. After a shaky debate performance against Donald Trump, questions over Biden’s fitness and age rang out among Democrats, eventually leading to his withdrawal from the race and backing his Vice President Kamala Harris to take up the mantle.
Following his exit from the race, President Biden’s final months in office involving a lot of work out of the public eye as the 2024 election carried out. With his vice president’s loss to Trump, the man he tried so hard to keep out of the White House enters for a second term on Monday, January 20.
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