Was Joe Biden a good president?

A good president means different things — I'll look at Biden's record, ratings and how analysts judged his term.

Was Joe Biden a good president is a subjective question, and evaluations vary widely based on political perspective, priorities, and time horizon. Historians, pollsters, and commentators have offered mixed but data-rich assessments of his 2021-2025 term.

Legislative and Policy Record

Biden's supporters point to a large legislative record passed with narrow Democratic majorities, and later with bipartisan support:

•American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that temporarily established expanded unemployment insurance and sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans in response to continued economic pressure from COVID-19, described elsewhere as a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package enacted in March 2021.

•Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act - a ten-year plan to invest in American roads, bridges, public transit, ports and broadband access, also described as a once-in-a-generation $1.2 trillion investment in bridges, roads, airports, public transit and broadband

•Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 - signed in August 2022, it included significant federal investment in climate and domestic clean energy production, tax credits for solar panels and electric cars, extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an insulin price cap and a provision allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. It is described as the largest investment in climate action in history

•Other domestic legislation included the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major federal gun control law in nearly three decades, the CHIPS and Science Act bolstering semiconductor and manufacturing industry, the Honoring our PACT Act expanding health care for veterans, and the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act

•Judicial appointment: Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court—the first Black woman to serve on the court

The administration credited these laws with driving recovery, citing 16.6 million jobs created and unemployment below 4% for 28 months, and supporters note Biden oversaw the strongest economic recovery of any G7 nation post COVID-19 and creation of over 16 million new jobs, the most of any single term president. The White House summarized that President Biden accomplished more for the American people in four years than most Presidents have in eight.

On foreign policy, the administration's stated goal was to restore the U.S. to a "position of trusted leadership", signing AUKUS with Australia and the United Kingdom, supporting expansion of NATO with Finland and Sweden, imposing sanctions on Russia and providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in combined aid after Russia's invasion.

Criticisms and Unpopular Aspects

Critics and polling data highlight several major vulnerabilities:

•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. Other summaries note prices soaring nearly 20% during his presidency.

•Afghanistan withdrawal: He completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, during which the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, leading to Biden receiving bipartisan criticism.

•Border/Immigration: The administration faced extraordinarily high migration levels. In December 2023 alone, CBP recorded 302,034 southwest-border encounters.

•Approval decline: Biden began his term with over 50% approval ratings; these fell significantly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and remained low as the country experienced high inflation and rising gas prices.

This was reflected in polling:

•Final approval rating: 40%, with Joe Biden's last job approval rating as president is 40% and his 42.2% average for his term is the second lowest in Gallup records

•A post-presidency CNN poll found favorability at 30%, down from 59% when entering the presidency

His age and mental fitness were a frequent subject of discussion throughout his presidency, ultimately culminating in his decision to withdraw his bid for re-election in the 2024 presidential election.

How Historians Rank Him

Historical ranking is still early, but initial academic surveys place Biden in the middle to upper-middle tier:

•In the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project, he ranked 14th, with an average score of 62.66 placing him in the top third of presidents.

•Scholars note that Biden's presidency is still somewhat "in progress" in terms of historical judgment.

•Another analysis noted presidential historians have ranked Biden 14th out of 46 presidents, and above average at 62.88.

Other partisan or ideological rankings place him much lower, including lists that rank him among the worst presidents, showing the divergence in interpretation.

Bottom Line

Assessments often fall in a mixed range rather than at extremes:

> 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, as supporters and critics point to distinct achievements and failures.

Supporters tend to emphasize legislative productivity, infrastructure and climate investment, job creation, and restoration of alliances. Critics tend to emphasize inflation, border management, the execution of the Afghanistan exit, and concerns about age and leadership that contributed to low approval and his withdrawal from the 2024 race.

Citations (1)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Presidency of Joe Biden - Wikipedia
Backs: “Biden's supporters point to a large legislative record passed with narrow Democratic majorities, and later with bipartisan support: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that temporarily established expanded unemployment insurance and sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans in response…”