Was Joe Biden a good president?

Was Biden a good president? I'll pull the record — achievements, setbacks and how historians rate his term.

Whether Joe Biden was a good president is subjective and depends on what criteria you use. Historians, polling of the public, and policy analysis give different answers. Most assessments describe his 2021-2025 presidency as mixed and consequential.

The case that he was effective

Supporters and some analysts point to a large legislative record despite narrow congressional majorities:

•He secured major pieces of legislation — the pandemic relief bill, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act — that were described as advancing overlapping goals of economic revival, industrial policy and climate action.

•Infrastructure investments via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($1.2 trillion) and CHIPS and Science Act ($280 billion) were credited with modernizing roads, broadband, and semiconductor manufacturing.

•The Inflation Reduction Act was described as the nation's largest investment ever in clean energy and climate action, and as the largest climate investment ever at $370 billion, capping insulin at $35 for seniors and enabling Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

On foreign policy, analysis described his presidency as one of "remarkable accomplishment" in restoring the United States as the anchor of the free world and leading the effort to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

Specific foreign policy outcomes cited include:

•The United States' image abroad sharply rebounded almost overnight and he repaired relations with NATO allies

•NATO being described as strong and unified, with two-thirds of members meeting the 2% GDP defense benchmark and Finland and Sweden joining

These accomplishments contributed to historians ranking him relatively highly. A Presidents Day survey of 154 historians and presidential experts placed Biden at about 14th best, and the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project also ranked him 14th. An earlier Siena College Research Institute survey ranked him 19th out of 45 presidents. Pollsters noted that Biden's 14th-place ranking was unusually high for a presidency without military victories or institutional expansion.

The case that he was not effective

Critics point to economic, immigration and foreign-policy failures:

•Main criticisms include concerns about inflation, border security and immigration policies, energy policies leading to higher gas prices, handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and perceptions of ineffective leadership.

•Inflation surged to 9.1% in 2022 under his watch, eroding wages and public trust.

•Border encounters hit records (over 10 million), overwhelming systems and drawing bipartisan rebuke, with patrols encountering some 2.2 million migrants crossing the southern border illegally in 2022, an all-time high.

•The Afghanistan withdrawal (2021) was chaotic, resulting in 13 U.S. deaths and Taliban resurgence, labeled a foreign policy disaster.

Analyses that try to balance both sides describe the record as combining substantive policy accomplishments — in infrastructure, industry policy, drug pricing, social supports and judicial appointments — with glaring failures and political liabilities in Afghanistan, inflation control, border politics, and messaging. One overall assessment gave him a mixed grade based on achievements and failures.

How the public rated him

Public opinion was more negative than historians' assessments:

•Gallup reported that Biden averaged 42.2% job approval across his four years, placing him as the second-lowest average in Gallup's post-World War II history.

•Gallup also reported his last job approval rating as president was 40% and his 42.2% average for his term is the second lowest in Gallup records.

•In January 2025 polling, 54% of U.S. adults expected that Joe Biden will go down in history as a below-average or poor president, while 26% said average and 19% as outstanding or above average.

Bottom line

If you weight durable legislative change, alliance management, and large investments in infrastructure, semiconductors and climate as most important, Biden is typically rated as an above-average, consequential one-term president.

If you weight immediate voter experiences — inflation that peaked during his term, record border crossings, and the disorderly Afghanistan exit — and his low public approval, he is rated as below-average.

Most non-partisan syntheses conclude he was a consequential but polarizing president whose long-term legacy — whether infrastructure, CHIPS factories and clean-energy incentives deliver sustained growth — will take years to judge, while short-term political costs were high.

Citations (2)

1cfr.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Biden’s Legacy: Major Accomplishments but Unfinished Business
Backs: “The case that he was effective. Supporters and some analysts point to a large legislative record despite narrow congressional majorities: He secured major pieces of legislation — the pandemic relief bill, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act — that were described…”
2gallup.comCompanies
The Presidency | Gallup Topic
Backs: “Gallup reported that Biden averaged 42.2% job approval across his four years, placing him as the second-lowest average in Gallup's post-World War II history. Gallup also reported his last job approval rating as president was 40% and his 42.2% average for his term is the second lowest in Gallup records.”