President Biden’s first year, and last two weeks

Mar 12, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Joseph Biden as senator had long set his sights on the highest office in the United States, that of President. He succeeded against the odds, and he is in the White House now, with his first full year in office now months behind him. It was a year of ups and downs, of initiatives and momentums losing steam, and of opponents arrayed against him in unyielding ironclad battle formation.
President Biden’s positive accomplishments surely must include putting much-needed money in the pockets of strapped Americans, all victimised by the relentlessly stalking, devouring COVID-19 viral pandemic. It was a major almost two trillion-dollar achievement for the new American President, and he earned much gratitude and goodwill from Americans out of work, and out of cash, who had families and bills to take care of, and for whom the relief money was most timely. The President made some inroads with a massive infrastructure bill, also a trillion, but not as many as he would have liked. And this is part of the problem with Joe Biden’s presidency: he goes after overgrown financial elephants, as in the trillions. It was a number that became commonplace for him, but one which scared the daylights out of deficit conscious and runaway spending hawks in the Senate and elsewhere. Further, for a leader whose early watch saw the greatest increase in jobs (6.4 million) in decades that was unmatched by any other first year President, there has to be some degree of recognition and applause. There were a few other areas of still positive, but less commendable results.
On the negative side, President Biden faltered in key areas, and flattered to deceive. Climate change was supposed to be a mainstay of his presidency. He started out brightly and boldly, then the issue started to crumble, with determined opposition from among his own. Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin, from the coal producing state of West Virginia had to take a stand for the people who sent him to Congress, and not endorse the full range of the ambitious visions of his president. To do otherwise was political suicide, and in the evenly divided Senate his opposition was a stumbling block of major proportions. He had to be conscious that his state is heavily Republican, and he is the only Democrat in his state’s Congressional delegation, which means he operates with a short leash, while walking a very taut rope.
President Biden, however, has come into his own recently, with determined and wise, possibly, far-reaching leadership moves in the last two weeks. Where he appeared faltering and unsure before, he has patiently marshaled issues to his advantage with rare leadership vision. As the New York Times headlined on February 27th, “10 consequential days: How Biden navigated war, COVID, and the Supreme Court”. It is “what is already redefining the arc of his presidency.” The foundations for future leverage have been laid.
On the warfront that is Ukraine, President Biden was able to gather a united European front to confront the so-called Russian ‘Special Military Operation’, which is war by another name. He was able to patch together a coalition of largely Western and largely NATO nations to stand up to the Russian nightmare. It is instructive that vital European energy interests have taken a backseat, and in winter of all times. What the American leader has been able to get across is that the menace is real, and it may not stop at the borders of Ukraine. He has been cool and circumspect in his handling of this most demanding of duties.
His Supreme Court pick, Judge Ketanji Brown, (female and Black) offers a chance to gain bipartisan support in the Senate, and is a study of making a fair and balanced call, without going overboard, or to the extremes. In the next instance, Americans are still dying from the pandemic, and pressures intensify to relax some of the confining restrictions. The President walks this tightrope of restrictions, confirmation, and sanctions, alongside overall military and economic considerations.
He is ready to sign a trillion-dollar bill with urgent aid for Ukraine. Joe Biden’s presidency could be turning for a little better. The jury is out, but it looks favourable.

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