Was Joe Biden a good president?

Was Biden's presidency a success? I'll pull together a balanced look at his record — achievements, criticisms and how historians rate him.

Whether Joe Biden was a "good" president is subjective and depends on political perspective and which metrics are prioritized. His 2021-2025 presidency is generally evaluated by supporters and critics on the following record:

Arguments Made By Supporters - Legislative and Policy Achievements

Supporters point to a series of major legislative accomplishments passed with narrow congressional majorities:

•American Rescue Plan: $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package signed early in his presidency to jumpstart the economy and change the course of the pandemic, described as $1.9T COVID relief

•Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: $1.2T investment to rebuild roads and bridges, upgrade public transit and provide high-speed internet, also listed as $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure law

•CHIPS and Science Act: $280B for semiconductor manufacturing and $52B semiconductor investment, and the Inflation Reduction Act - described as $369B climate investment and the largest climate legislation in US history and the nation's largest investment ever in clean energy and climate action

Other achievements cited include restoring the United States as the anchor of the free world and helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, repairing relations with NATO allies, with Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, and strengthening alliances in Asia.

On the economy, supporters cite that Biden had on average the lowest unemployment rate (4.12%) among presidents going back to 1964 and was the first president to oversee monthly job gains for the entirety of his presidency with 16.6 million jobs added.

Historians and scholars in academic surveys have ranked him relatively highly. The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert survey ranked Biden 14th out of 45 presidents and a February 2024 American Political Science Association poll of historians and scholars also ranked Biden the 14th-greatest president, diverging from public assessments.

Arguments Made By Critics - Low Approval and Policy Criticisms

Critics point to low public approval and several policy challenges:

•Approval ratings: Fewer than four-in-ten U.S. adults (37%) said they approved of Biden's job performance, with six-in-ten disapproving. He entered office with majority support, but his approval ratings declined significantly during his presidency, particularly over concerns about inflation and immigration.

•Inflation: Inflation surged to 9.1% in 2022 under his watch, with policies like excessive stimulus blamed for fueling it. Inflation peaking at 9.1% was a primary drag on his approval.

•Immigration / Border: Criticism regarding immigration policies at the U.S.-Mexico border with border encounters hitting records (over 10 million) and patrols encountering 2.2 million migrants crossing illegally in 2022, an all-time high.

•Afghanistan withdrawal: The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in a chaotic exit was described as chaotic, resulting in 13 U.S. deaths and Taliban resurgence.

•Age and health: Concerns about Biden's age and health persisted throughout his presidency. After his performance in the first presidential debate, intensifying scrutiny about his age and health led him to withdraw his candidacy for reelection in 2024.

Criticisms overall are often summarized as concerns about inflation, border security and immigration policies, energy policies, handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and perceptions of ineffective leadership.

Overall Legacy Assessment

The Council on Foreign Relations assessment summarized that his presidency has been one of remarkable accomplishment abroad and at home, including guiding major domestic investments through a divided legislature, but noted he fell short of achieving his goal of winning the "battle for the soul of this nation" and easing the partisan divide, and that his efforts were blocked by a recalcitrant Congress and distracted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In public opinion polls, a majority have expected history to rate him negatively - 54% expected he will go down as below average or poor, contrasting with the historians' 14th-place ranking.

In short, evaluations tend to split: supporters emphasize legislative productivity, alliance restoration, job growth and climate investment; critics emphasize inflation, border management, the Afghanistan exit, and age-related concerns about leadership capacity.

Citations (2)

1cfr.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Biden’s Legacy: Major Accomplishments but Unfinished Business | Council on Foreign Relations
Backs: “CHIPS and Science Act: $280B for semiconductor manufacturing and $52B semiconductor investment, and the Inflation Reduction Act - described as $369B climate investment and the largest climate legislation in US history and the nation's largest investment ever in clean energy and climate action”
2wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Joe Biden - Wikipedia
Backs: “Approval ratings: Fewer than four-in-ten U.S. adults (37%) said they approved of Biden's job performance, with six-in-ten disapproving. He entered office with majority support, but his approval ratings declined significantly during his presidency, particularly over concerns about inflation and immigration.”