Was Biden a good president? I'll gather a balanced look at his record — achievements, setbacks and how historians rate him.
Whether Joe Biden was a "good" president is subjective and depends on which issues and criteria you prioritize. Historians, supporters and critics offer different evaluations, with both significant legislative achievements and major challenges cited for his 2021-2025 term.
Arguments That He Was Effective
Supporters point to several large legislative accomplishments:
•Major domestic legislation: The White House shepherded several consequential laws through narrow Democratic majorities: the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package enacted in March 2021; a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law funding roads, bridges, rail and broadband; and other laws.
•Infrastructure and industrial policy: Biden achieved passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, described by the administration as a once-in-a-generation $1.2 trillion investment in bridges, roads, airports, public transit and broadband. The administration credits that agenda with attracting over $1 trillion in private clean-energy and manufacturing investment and creating 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs.
•CHIPS and climate investments: His Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is described as rebuilding roads and bridges, his Inflation Reduction Act as the largest investment in climate action in history, and his CHIPS and Science Act as making cutting-edge technology in America.
•Health care and economy: The laws included steps to enable Medicare drug-price negotiations with initial drugs announced in 2023, and the White House cites 16.6 million jobs created and unemployment below 4% for 28 months. Other summaries note he oversaw over 16 million jobs — the most in a single term — and one of the strongest post-COVID rebounds among G7 nations. GDP increased from approximately $21 trillion in 2020 to more than $29 trillion in 2024.
•Foreign policy: Supporters cite securing critical support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, and Biden's biggest foreign-policy accomplishment was undoubtedly Ukraine.
•White House assessment: The White House stated President Biden accomplished more for the American people in four years than most Presidents have in eight.
Arguments That He Faced Serious Setbacks
Critics emphasize economic and execution challenges:
•Inflation: When Biden entered office in January 2021, annual consumer inflation stood at 1.4%. By June 2022, it had surged to 9.1%, the highest rate in roughly four decades. Consumer price inflation rose sharply during Biden's presidency, peaking at 9.1 percent in June 2022, the highest level in four decades. The Consumer Price Index increased by nearly 20% during his presidency.
•Border and immigration: The administration faced extraordinarily high migration levels at the southwest border. In December 2023 alone, CBP recorded 302,034 southwest-border encounters.
•Afghanistan withdrawal: The withdrawal drew bipartisan criticism over its execution and became one of the most politically damaging episodes of Biden's presidency.
How He Is Rated
Public and scholarly evaluations differ:
•Public opinion: While Joe Biden saw approval ratings above 50% during his first six months in office, rising inflation, illegal immigration, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza contributed to a decline. His final Gallup rating was 40% and his 42.2% average for his term is the second lowest in Gallup records. A later poll found his favorability at just 30% after entering with 59%.
•Historical assessments: In the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project, he ranked 14th. Other ratings have shown him to be above average (14th in the linked source, 19th in the Siena College Research Institute survey in 2022) and in the top third of all presidents.
•Overall characterization: His tenure is described as a defining period characterized by significant achievements, persistent challenges, and polarizing debates. Public and historical assessments generally place the Biden administration in a mixed range (roughly 4 to 7 out of 10), rather than at the extremes.
In short, evaluations tend to credit Biden with passing major infrastructure, manufacturing and climate legislation and overseeing a strong jobs recovery post-COVID, while criticizing his handling of inflation, border surges, and the Afghanistan withdrawal. Whether that record amounts to a "good" presidency often reflects how much weight a person gives to each of those factors.